(The Center Square) – Nearly 700 days after the declared end of COVID-19 in North Carolina, nearly $3 billion in federal emergency funds were not distributed nor requested.
By Dec. 31 last year, 100% of the $5.4 billion to the state from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act had been requested, the state auditor says in a new report. If any of the State Fiscal Recovery Funds are not expended by Dec. 31 of next year, by law they are to be returned to the U.S. Treasury.
“State agencies were allocated billions of dollars for COVID, but a lot of that money sat parked,” said first-term Republican state Auditor Dave Boliek. “With funds not expended by the end of 2026 going to the U.S. Treasury, state agencies should be proactive in making sure taxpayers realize a return on the investment of these funds.”
Consensus is the start of COVID-19 happened on March 12, 2020, a Thursday when numerous shutdowns of operations began to happen across the country. By the following Monday, TV commercials saying “two weeks to flatten the curve” were playing as deaths and diagnoses increased.
Second-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Aug. 15, 2022, ended the declaration of emergency. Boliek’s report for the time ending June 30, 2024 – 688 days later – says only 46%, or $2.5 billion, of the money for the state had been disbursed.
The audit, State Fiscal Recovery Fund Periodic Financial Audit, says the Office of State Budget and Management has confirmed all funds were obligated on Dec. 31 of last year.
The state agencies with funds as of June 30 last year, according to Boliek’s office, included:
• The Department of Environmental Quality has not requested $1.7 billion (89%) of the $1.9 billion allocated, with $528 million in remaining funds for the State Drinking Water/Wastewater Reserve Infrastructure Grants and $326 million in remaining funds for the Viable Utility Reserve.
• The Department of Information Technology has not requested $687 million (94%) of the $734 million allocated, with $326 million in remaining funds for the NC GREAT Grant – Federal Broadband Funds and $126 million in remaining funds for Completing Access to Broadband.
• The Department of Health and Human Services has not requested $201 million (40%) of the $503 million allocated, with $120 million in remaining funds for the Lead & Asbestos – Remediation of Lead Paint and Asbestos in Schools & Childcare Facilities.
• The Department of Commerce has not requested $54 million (43%) of the $126 million allocated, with $39 million of remaining funds related to Rural Downtown Transformation Grants.
In the allocation of $5.4 billion, state agencies got $4.4 billion; state employee bonuses and benefits totaled $523.8 million; public schools and higher education received $394 million; local government capacity assistance $54 million; continuity of operations $25.3 million; and state Indian tribes and associations $10 million.
