Bonuses. Convention center. Local governments spend COVID funds like play money

There are plenty of priorities for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic havoc.

But the list is even longer than we knew — so long that it includes using federal money to pay Tarrant County employees bonuses in hopes of improving worker retention.

County commissioners voted Tuesday to pay $4,900 to every full-time employee, more than 4,600 people, in stages through December. Nearly all of the $27 million will come from federal funds provided under the American Rescue Plan Act.

The hope is to reverse the county’s part of the Great Resignation — more than 1,600 workers have left since the COVID outbreak. We’re all for that; county workers were tapped again and again during the worst of the pandemic for virus testing, vaccinations and staffing elections in a safe way. Governments need to avoid brain drains as much as any business.

Plus, with Republican Tim O’Hare likely to succeed Glen Whitley as county judge, workers may be skittish. O’Hare has said he’ll seek to steeply cut county government, primarily by consolidating open positions. Workers near retirement or those with other options might see this as a good time to leap, and keeping some of them should be a priority.

We’re sure, too, that county leaders have ensured they’re following the law. Congress didn’t exactly put a lot of restrictions on COVID relief funds. The point was to get money into the economy and help hurting entities as fast as possible.

This is the kind of thinking, though, that has our national debt past $30 trillion and growing. It’s borrowed money that future generations will have to pay back. With rapid inflation forcing interest rates up, they’ll do so at a higher cost, too.

Tarrant County is far from alone here. The city, for instance, is using $40 million in COVID funds to start expansion of the Fort Worth Convention Center. You see, hotel-tax collections that would fund the project plummeted when events were canceled and no one traveled, so it’s a pandemic expense.

Don’t get us started on state budgets, either. Congress was concerned that state and local governments would see deep reductions in revenue, so it sent a gusher of money their way. Texas is expecting to have at least $30 billion in unspent money; California has $98 billion to play with.

The COVID recession passed quickly and the states are fine. We’re not naive enough to expect any of these governments to send the money back, though. And our taxpayers will be on the hook, so we might as well get our share, right?

Remember all this as your gas and grocery bills keep rising. The federal government’s overcompensation for the pandemic downturn is helping fuel inflation. Between that and what we’ll pay in interest on federal debt for decades, that better be one helluva convention center.

The spending spree is going to have to end, and perhaps sooner than anticipated. The economy is volatile, and inflation is a drag on governments, too. Unemployment remains low — indeed, businesses are still crying out for workers — but that can change.

It’s budgeting season for local governments, and they need to plan for the uncertainty ahead. They need not cut wildly yet, but this is a good time for scrubbing spending and finding a way to truly reduce tax burdens, especially for homeowners reeling from double-digit increases in their homes’ appraisals.

The Fort Worth school district has already done its work, and to its credit, the district has cut $40 million or so. But it’s also spending about $40 million from its general fund to get to a budget that raises pay for teachers and other employees. Officials are expecting federal funds to ease the blow. But if the district keeps shrinking, the budget decisions will get harder.

Governing during the pandemic was not easy. Governing during an economic downturn won’t be, either.

This story was originally published July 7, 2022 at 3:11 PM.