(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

“To me, it is all taxpayer money…the information should be easily accessible to the taxpayers to see how we’re spending their money.”

Maria Longo, the Controller for Beaver County, joined Matt Drzik on the May 13 edition of A.M. Beaver County to talk about the recently installed ARPA tracker at the Controller’s page on the Beaver County website. The tracker is designed to showcase how much of the $92 million in the ARPA funding for Beaver County has been allocated and how much has been spent/reimbursed.

Longo explained the process of how the ARPA money is dealt with: “When the work is done, you submit the invoices to us, and we reimburse you for the work that’s being done,” she said. “So that way, the county is making sure they’re following the IRS, the guidelines from the feds and all the reporting is correct. It has to be spent on these specific municipality projects that meet the criteria for the ARPA.” Longo says that $70 million worth of projects has already been requested by municipalities.

Despite the system in place, there are still several alleys that could lead to confusion down the line, including the municipalities having their own money to use for projects that hasn’t been allocated by the county, and the federal government’s rulings on the certain situations (such as if a project is incomplete). “They can change the rules however they want along this next three-year process,” Longo said. “As of now, the project has to be completed…but that could change.”

To watch the full interview with Maria Longo, click on the Facebook feed below!