KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The federal government may have dropped tens of millions of dollars on Kalamazoo to address the damage caused by the pandemic, but officials say the demand for those funds will far outstrip the supply.
The city, which will get about 39-million and the County, which is getting about $52-million have yet to allocate most of the funding from the American Rescue Plan. With the deadline to apply for the County stash having passed, Finance Director Amanda Morse says they have far more requests than they have money to spend.
“We had a total of 126 applications totaling $140-million,” said Finance Director Amanda Morse, who stressed that it was more than three times what they have left to spend, with a share of that likely be used to replace revenue the County lost because of the virus.
Applications are being screened to make sure they comply with ARPA eligibility standards. Then Commissioners will rank and decide which projects will get funded.
The County has already committed $12-million for projects, the largest payout, over $9-million to pay a pandemic bonus to essential county employees. City Commissioners are about to begin their own process for allocating ARPA dollars, using existing spending priorities outlined by their Imagine Kalamazoo master plan. Commissioner Chris Preadel is anxious to get started.
“And every month and every year that goes by that we’re just letting those funds collect interest in that account, or collect dust, our opportunities that trauma is rearing it’s dangerous ways that we’re not correcting the ills that have been caused by the pandemic,” said Preadel.
The Federal rules for ARPA Dollars give local municipalities until 2024 to spend the money, but the pressure is building to act before the damage from the unprecedented pandemic becomes permanent.
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