BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The City of Buffalo Common Council meeting Tuesday was expected to result in a vote for how the city would use American Rescue Plan funds. Instead, a procedural issue led to members agreeing to reconvene in a special session.
The city sought to enter into an agreement with a downstate company to administer the funds. Members realized the spending plan, from the City's Office of Administration, Finance, Policy & Urban Affairs, could not be passed as is because of a technicality.
Nearly 60 million dollars to be spread across several community organizations would instead be put toward revenue loss replacement, in the city's new plan. The groups impacted could be out of the money regardless of the procedural problem.
On Monday, The Partnership for the Public Good submitted a complaint to the Department of the Treasury Inspector General, asking for an investigation into the allocation of funds.
"We got these documents at the last minute and there's a question we had on the floor," said council member Rasheed Wyatt. "These questions should have answered yesterday."
The impacted funds include:
- Public Health Equity Initiative - $7,319,850
- Community Food Security - $750,000
- Wraparound Services Support for Job Training Program Enrollees - $14,300,000
- Skills-Based Job-Training - $3,450,000
- Neighborhood Improvement Corps - $8,000,000
- Frontline Arts Organizations Fund - $1,950,000
- Neal Dobbins Restorative Justice - $3,395,342
- Community Center Renovations - $10,000,000
- Smart Sewer - $14,884,808
Lawmakers were also expected to vote on additional funding for struggling downtown grocery store Braymiller. The owners of the store asked the city for more than half a million dollars.
"We're back to where we started - that one business gets a half a million and the other businesses who may be have been eligible for five million dollars won't get anything, so we didn't want to take that chance today," said council president Darius Pridgen.
