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"Insulting and disrespectful..." Buffalo Common Council questions administration's need for $50M in rescue plan funds to fill revenue gaps

Finance Commissioner Delano Dowell was grilled by the Common Council's finance committee Tuesday as the administration seeks $50M in ARPA funds to fill revenue gaps.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — When the federal government doled out American Rescue Plan Act funds, the City of Buffalo received $331M. 

According to the spending plan published by the administration in May 2021, the city planned to use $100M for revenue loss replacement.

"$100 million will be used to replace revenues lost either directly or indirectly due to the pandemic," the plan says. 

But now the city is asking the common council to make amendments to the spending plan that would reallocate an additional $50M into the lost revenue bucket of ARPA funds. 

"We're looking to do an amendment to use more loss revenue to be less restrictive," said City of Buffalo Administration, Finance, Policy & Urban Affairs Commissioner Delano Dowell

Niagara District Councilmember David Rivera asked the commissioner to clarify. 

"You said you're looking to make it less restrictive so you can add more money to loss revenue beyond the 100 million?"

Commissioner Dowell responded with a simple yes. 

"I'm really concerned that we're dragging this long into the future so we can use the money for lost revenue," Rivera said. "Those things that we were looking to fund, we're probably going to change and give less or who knows."

But one of the reasons the city may need the additional lost revenue is the costs associated with the November snowstorm and December blizzard. 

According to a report by Standard and Poor's released on April 3, 2023, the city's "expenses are trending higher as the city faced an unprecedented amount of snowfall in December, subsequently resulting in overtime costs."

While President Biden declared the December blizzard a federal disaster, it's unclear how much the city has sought to claim as expenses for that storm. 

Additionally, it's not exactly clear if the blizzard is the main reason why the administration is seeking the additional $50M in ARPA funds for lost revenue.

Commissioner Dowell did not explain the reasons to the council but rather spoke about the general finances of the city. 

"We're fully aware of the city's financial situation, I mean, you guys look at the budget, just like we look at it," Commissioner Dowell said. "We see that expenditures are outpacing revenues, the goal is to try to increase revenues to the best of our ability."

Mayor Brown's 2024 budget plan calls for a 3.8% property tax increase. 

"This is the exact reason why government gets a bad name, and why the common council gets beat up," said University District Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt. "Because we're not honest and truthful."

The infusion of $331M in ARPA funds was meant to be a generational investment when the plan was announced. 

"That money was supposed to be transformational," Wyatt said. " Well, it ain't transformed nothing."

Councilmember Wyatt says the council didn't have any input in the Mayor's ARPA spending plan but is now being asked to amend the rules on how the administration spends it. 

"To hear today that we're looking at amending to move more money into revenue replacement, as opposed to things that we've told the community, that there's going to be some transformational things that are going to happen in our neighborhoods, that's insulting and disrespectful," Wyatt said. "We get a bad name for a decision that we didn't even know anything about."

Ultimately, the finance committee tabled the item for future debate. There are two more finance committee meetings before the council takes a break in August. 

 

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