It was a frenetic and sometimes heated day for the Buffalo Common Council, Monday, which voted 5 to 3 to amend the city’s planned American Rescue Plan (ARP) spending just in time for the Dec. 31 deadline.
In 2021, the city was given $331 million in federal ARP cash to help the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which must be under obligation by the end of the year to comply with federal rules.
The council voted to reallocate more than $19 million originally destined for initiatives such as arts groups, road maintenance, and community center upgrades, to plug city budget gaps instead.
And it came down to the wire, with the council voting in the knowledge that any federal cash left on the table by the end of the year would have to be returned to the federal government.
It left the council with a tough choice – roll millions in federal cash originally allocated for community groups and pandemic recovery initiatives into revenue replacement, or lose the money altogether.
It was a situation that visibly frustrated most of the councilmembers, including Masten District representative Zeneta Everhart. She accepted that leadership means taking tough decisions but took umbrage at the one the council was being asked to make.
"What happened with this is disgusting," she said.
"As a citizen I am ashamed of the City of Buffalo. I am ashamed, I am ashamed, I am ashamed."
It was also revealed this week that a separate $11 million in ARP dollars meant for a water arrears forgiveness program was in fact spent on water infrastructure, much to the consternation of council Majority Leader, Leah Halton-Pope.
“I’m concerned that $11 million for arrears for people that have debt in water and sewer is gone. They’re not getting it back. That’s a problem. That’s a big problem for me," Halton-Pope said.
But Councilmember Joseph Golombek Jr., who represents the North District, suggested the decision was straightforward. He outlined that he would vote “yes” for the amendments to ensure the city can keep the cash, rather than hand it back to the federal government. He told the council that plugging budget gaps with federal dollars might offset potential future property tax hikes for city residents.
“If we had to raise taxes, every single resident of the city of Buffalo is going to be impacted by this,” he said.
The city has had three years to obligate the funds, but the last-minute scramble to allocate the cash before the deadline revealed a liturgy of ARP-funded plans that never happened. Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski made it clear who he felt was to blame.
“We are here because we are cleaning up the mess of the Brown administration for not getting the money out in the street,” Nowakowski claimed.
Councilmember Nowakowski: "We are here because we are cleaning up the mess of the Brown administration."
— Holly Kirkpatrick WBFO (@Holly_Journo) December 23, 2024
"We are here because of the prior administration. I know that for a fact....now we are here staring down the barrel."
Byron Brown was at the helm as Buffalo Mayor for almost all of the three years that the city had to allocate the cash, and he even touted some of the planned debt-forgiveness programs in his 'state of the city' address, back in May.
Brown stepped down in October before the end of his term, leaving Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon’s administration to meet the deadline.
In the same meeting, the council voted to adopt a resolution directing the city comptroller to investigate the use of the ARP cash.
The council voted 5 to 3 to approve the amendments to the ARP spending plan, and the vote was as follows:
Councilmembers Brian Bollman (Lovejoy District), Zeneta Everhart (Masten District), Joel Feroleto (Delaware District), Joseph Golombek Jr. (North District) and Mitch Nowakowski (Fillmore District) voted yes.
Councilmembers Leah Halton-Pope (Ellicott District), David Rivera (Niagara District) and Rasheed N.C. Wyatt (University District) in the negative.
