Buffalo's Government 'Forgot' To Spend Millions In Stimulus Money

It's not often that you find yourself trying to figure out how best to spend more than 30 million dollars that you somehow forgot about, but that exact thing is happening right now in the City of Buffalo, as city officials announced that there is a potentially unspecified amount of federal stimulus money that has not yet been allocated or spent.

Coming out of the depths of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Congress and the Biden Administration created the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal stimulus program to help states, cities, and the general community recover from the havoc created by COVID-19. Communities all over the nation received infusions of cash to help jump-start the economy, replace lost revenue, and prevent businesses from shutting down. More than $1.9 trillion was made available to the people from ARPA.

The city of Buffalo received a staggering amount of ARPA money from the US Treasury. More than $331 million flowed into the City's bank account in 2021 and the Federal government gave Buffalo wide latitude on how to spend the money, but required the money needed to be spent by December 31, 2024.

City of Buffalo

When the American Rescue Plan funds were received, city officials released an ambitious plan on how those funds would be used to benefit the people of Buffalo. However, after 3 and 1/2 years of multiple amendments to the original plan, things are not quite going according to plan.

Now, it seems officials are rushing to spend millions of dollars that were 'forgotten' about. According to the Buffalo News, $35.8 million in ARPA funds remain 'unobligated,' and if they are not obligated by the end of the year, the funds must be sent back to the Federal government.

There is some disagreement between different agencies in Buffalo as to the exact amount of money that was forgotten about. The City Comptroller, Barbara Miller-Williams, said it's $35.8 million; some members of the city's finance team say it's much less than that.

Whatever the number is, there is something seriously wrong with financial oversight within city government. If the $35.8 million number is accurate, this represents more than 10% of the stimulus funds. It begs the simple question, how?

It's worth noting that, according to city financial records, these funds were not really lost or forgotten about. As with a majority of government-funded programs, unspent funds in accounts may be reallocated to ensure funds are completely spent down, or the source may claw back the funds.

However, it does seem that there is a disconnect between different parts of the local government as to what these funds should be spent on. Members of the Buffalo Common Council are planning to hold meetings at City Hall to discuss what the nearly $36 million should be spent on. The Council's meeting schedule is here on the City of Buffalo Website.

* This article has been amended to add additional context surrounding the tracking of funds in the various accounts.