Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of articles on how area localities have spent their allotted American Rescue Plan Act funds, which must be allocated by Dec. 31 of this year and spent by the end of 2026.

 

Windsor, the smaller of Isle of Wight County’s two towns, received just over $2 million in 2022 from the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 pandemic relief package Congress passed in 2021.

Local governments have until Dec. 31 to obligate any remaining funds and through the end of 2026 to spend them.

The Smithfield Times, based on public records and email interviews, has compiled an overview of how Isle of Wight County, its school system, and the towns of Smithfield and Windsor spent their ARPA allocations and what remains available to date. Breakdowns of how Smithfield, Isle of Wight County and its school system spent their ARPA funds were published in the July 24, July 31 and Aug. 7 print editions, respectively, and online.

 

Windsor

Allocated: $2 million

Unspent: $75,000

 

Like Smithfield, Windsor put the majority of its share toward water and sewer projects, the largest being a $750,000 replacement of the water mains on Virginia Avenue and Duke Street, which have been on the town’s wish list for years. Windsor’s Town Council awarded the contract in 2023 to Richmond-based KCH Contracting LLC, which bid $565,774 for the project.

The council put an additional $725,000 toward other water, sewer and stormwater projects throughout the town.

The rural town of 2,700 residents committed additional ARPA funds toward computer and software upgrades, automated license plate reader cameras made by Atlanta-based Flock Group Inc., the outfitting of two patrol vehicles for the Windsor Police Department, a backhoe, garbage collection, replacing the fence around the town-owned cemetery, and preliminary design work on plans for a new 7,677- to 8,277-square-foot municipal building.

This year, the council voted on June 11 to enact a 2-cent real estate tax rate increase, which Windsor Town Manager William Saunders said was needed to balance the town’s 2024-25 budget of just under $5 million without relying on ARPA funds for annual operating expenses.

For the past two years, Windsor has used its ARPA money to pay public safety and essential worker bonuses, benefits for law enforcement officers and a roughly $20,000 annual subsidy to the Windsor Town Center, which has seen its annual operating expenses exceed revenue from rentals since its 2018 opening. ARPA funds, in past years, have funded stipends for Town Council and Planning Commission members and other salaries.

The unspent $75,000 in the 2024-25 budget is intended for the completion of the Virginia Avenue and Duke Street water main replacement, Saunders said.