You have probably heard that Johnson County and all our cities have received generous funding from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In the case of Johnson County, we are getting just over $29.3 million dollars, half of which has arrived, and half of which is coming next May.

I am going to write about ARPA funding, but it will take the form of a five-part piece. In today’s first installment, we’ll discuss big picture considerations as to how the money gets spent.

The decision as to how this money is spent lies with the Board of Supervisors. The question of how to spend the money is a bit of a hot topic in the community. Needless to say, there are many approaches we can take.

There are about 153,000 residents of Johnson County. We could just take the $14,600,000 we get this year and write every person a check for $95. Then we could do the same thing next May. I think you can see that by doing so, we would achieve almost nothing. There is strength in collective action, and there is strength in collective funding efforts.

On the other hand, you could take the 100 poorest residents, and give each one $146,000. That would be really good for those 100 people. But it would not improve things very much for the 152,900 residents who were left out.

Obviously, a balanced approach is the way to get the best bang for our buck. I think it is also critically important that we focus upon those most in need. That leads to another question — who, exactly, is the neediest among us?

I used to work with people with intellectual (and other) disabilities. I know people who cannot breathe without mechanical assistance. I know people who cannot eat without mechanical assistance. I know people who require around the clock nursing care.

Most of these folks are dirt poor. (One has to be poor to qualify for Medicaid, which covers most of our long-term care.) However, just a few of these folks are wealthy. So, I ask you — who is needier? A person who has some money but can neither breathe nor eat without assistance, or a person who has no money but can care for themselves? Does it matter if the person with disabilities is housed if the other person is not?

If you use Maslow as a guide, you might first provide help to those who need food, then shelter. That is actually a decent place to start, but it oversimplifies situations that are usually more complex, and it does nothing “upstream” to prevent future cases of hunger and homelessness.

Do we invest in seniors, to whom we owe a great debt, or do we invest in children, hoping to prevent future problems? Should we invest in job training or substance abuse counseling? Mental health care or domestic violence prevention? Services for immigrants or food pantries? How do all of these groups stack up against environmental concerns, which might just kill us all?

The answer is pretty simple: All of these concerns are extremely important. And Johnson County works really hard to address them all.

Assuming we do take a balanced approach, we will not completely solve any single problem. To illustrate: We could spend the whole $14,600,000 on building affordable housing. That might build about 100 units, which would be an incredible improvement. It might purchase 200 existing units. But 100 units will not end the affordable housing crisis in Johnson County. Nor will 200 units. There are a couple thousand names on the waiting list for Section 8 in Johnson County alone. To completely address our affordable housing crisis, we need the coordinated efforts of local, state, and federal governments.

Unfortunately, the State of Iowa under Kim Reynolds has done next to nothing to help those in need. The Federal government had not done much either, until ARPA came along. I know that as a county, we are constantly asked to pick up the funding for something that the State of Feds decided to cut. And to be honest, we just don’t have the resources.

Local government cannot afford to make up for everything the Feds get wrong. We should have universal health care coverage, but the County cannot fix that. We should have universal free childcare, but the County cannot fix that. We should have universal paid sick leave, but the County cannot fix that. We should include all workers in unemployment insurance, but the County cannot fix that.

I was recently in some conversations regarding sick leave. The State of Iowa made local ordinances addressing sick leave illegal. That happened as part of the same local control bill where they revoked our local minimum wage.

What the County can do is take this generous sum of one-time money and make investments that improve the lives of our residents. And it is up to the Board of Supervisors, after listening to residents from all walks of life, to make those decisions. We will not make everyone happy. But we are going to do our best.