KANSAS CITY, Mo — COVID-19 relief funds provided to Jackson County and counties across the metro will soon be depleted.
The federal government gave $122 million to Jackson County to combat the pandemic. As part of the deal, counties all across the country are required to spend the money by Dec. 30.
Troy Schulte, the administrator for Jackson County, said the county has reserved $7.8 million dollars in the hopes the federal government will reverse its position that the money can't be carried over to the next year.
"We're going to have to staff contact tracing, our health department, our testing clinics well until we get a vaccine broadly distributed," Schulte said.
Contact tracing is a vital tool when it comes to combating infectious diseases. Schulte said, without money, the county may not be able to keep contact tracers on the payroll.
"That's a huge issue. How do we keep those 65 contact tracers?" Schulte asked. "Theoretically, they're out of money Dec. 30, but the job still has to be done."
Dr. Rex Archer, Director of Health for the Kansas City Health Department, said with cases soaring, contact tracers are having trouble keeping up. However, once the numbers start to decline, it's the best method to end the pandemic.
"The contact tracing is exactly what puts out the fires," Archer said.
Both Archer and Schulte are calling on Congress to step in.
"There are funds that could be coming down to relieve us after the last day or two in December," Archer said.
The money Archer is referring to is another relief package that's been approved by the House but is sitting in the Senate awaiting approval.
If more money isn't an option, Schulte said there's another alternative that could help Jackson County get by in early 2021.
"If the feds said, 'Well, we'll give you more time to spend this money,' I would immediately say that $8 million that we're worried about spending immediately goes into the money to keep our contact tracers," Schulte said.
In the past, the federal government has allowed emergency funds to be carried over to the next year. Jackson County said it does have some funds from additional sources. However, without more assistance from the federal government, that money will also run dry.
