Director


perts on ARP that our counties can utilize in conjunction with other in-house or local experts, and we recently offered a Zoom call to walk through our offerings of help and to answer questions for County Judges and Treasurers. We are proud to partner with Lindsey Holman of Holman and Associates as one of our experts in federal guidance. Many of you may know her from her experience with the National Association of Counties (NACo) and her attendance at our AAC confer- ences. She is a Pope County native and has returned to Arkan- sas from the D.C. area. Our website now has a landing page for the ARP program, which includes links to the U.S. Department of Treasury for guidance and the money receipting portal. Also included is the video of the Zoom call mentioned above. Tis video is an ex- cellent way to learn about the intricacies and many gray areas of this funding stream. For now, we recommend patience. We, along with our ex-


perts and national experts such as NACo are pouring through the 150 pages of guidance and continuing to ask treasury for specific instructions. If you have read the guidance, you will agree much is unclear. We hope to clear things up over time and ask you to be very deliberate in decisions on how this money will be invested in your counties. Beware that money


Continued From Page 8 <<<


ill-spent is subject to federal claw-back. Regardless of who mis- spends your investment money, the federal government will seek claw-back from the county.


***


for the restarting of our economy post-covid. Te reason I want to alert you is that counties historically lag behind local economy wage increases. If we remain stagnant and pay less than the egg-fryer at the local pancake shop we will surely suffer. Law enforcement will be hit especially hard, as they provide jobs that imperil one’s life at a lower hourly wage than wood-stackers make. Bottom line is county jobs will not be competitively attractive. I encourage all of you to keep a close eye on labor market issues in your counties — be prepared to see hiring practices affected for our traditionally lower-paying positions. We will keep you posted if and when we see this problem becoming more local in nature.


C Advertiser Resource Index


AAC Workers’ Compensation ............................................................... 41 ARBuy .................................................................................... 12 Crews and Associates ........................................................................ 3 Custom Pavement Maintenance and Safety ...................................................... 8 DataScout .................................................................. . Inside Front Cover Ergon Asphalt & Paving ....................................................................... 4 Financial Intelligence ........................................................................ 31 Good Roads Foundation ..................................................................... 27 Guardian RFID ............................................................................. 33 Homeland Safety Systems .................................................................... 25 Mass Enthusiasm ........................................................................... 26 Nationwide Insurance ....................................................................... 35 Rainwater Holt & Sexton, PA ......................................................... Back Cover Southern Tire Mart ......................................................................... 43 Tax Pro ................................................................................... 10 Winthrop Rockefeller Institute ............................................................... 19


ounties, a dangerous cloud is looming on the horizon. Counties may be particularly hard- hit, and law enforcement as a sub-set especially. Te labor market has become a major issue


This publication was made possible with the support of these advertising


partners who have helped to underwrite the cost of


County Lines. They deserve your consideration and


patronage when making your purchasing decisions. For


more information on how to partner with County Lines,


please call Christy L. Smith at (501) 372-7550.


42


COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2021


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44