April 4, 2024 |
Photo – Carbon Building in Rawlins – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Carbon County Courthouse renovations have been bought and paid for using a lot of federal money, according to an announcement.
In 2019, Carbon County voters agreed to fund public works projects throughout the county using the 6th Penny Special Purpose Tax. Renovations and security upgrades to the Carbon County Courthouse and Carbon Building were one of the first projects undertaken using the 6th Penny Tax money.
The courthouse and Carbon Building remodels cost approximately $28 million in total, $18 million of which came from the 6th Penny Tax. The county borrowed the remaining $10 million from NBH Bank.
In October 2022 the county received $8,789,400 from the US Department of Treasury’s Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund. The federal money was paid to the county over a two-year period, from fiscal years 2022 through 2023.
During Tuesday’s Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett suggested the county use the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund, plus an additional $450,000 in county money, to pay the $9,670,641.07 balance of the courthouse renovation loan.
Commissioner John Espy said the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund is part of the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. Espy said thanks to the federal funding, the county is no longer required to set aside over $700,000 a year to repay the NBH Bank loan.
Commissioner Travis Moore read an announcement about the loan payoff issued by the county clerk’s office. Reading from the statement, Moore said Commission Chairwoman Sue Jones thanked residents for voting for the 6th Penny Tax. Commissioner Moore said the original loan required Carbon County to pay NBH Bank over $700,000 a year until 2041.
According to the official county statement, “The specific purpose tax that helped pay for this project was originally estimated to be paid off in 15 to 16 years and is approximately 44% paid in just 4 years.”
