Mayor Dave Bronson announced line-item vetoes totaling $16,199,091 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The vetoes struck numerous studies and what Bronson called misguided spending choices contained in AO 2022-178(S). Bronson specifically said that the spending ignored the dire need to restore the fuel funding for police and fire vehicles.
The resolution, totaling $51 million, appropriated the second round of American Rescue Plan Act funds received by the Municipality from the federal government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Assembly is expected to override it at a special meeting on Wednesday.
“I support many of the projects and organizations who received funding under this resolution and look forward to the positive work that will happen in our city when this money hits our streets. However, after close examination I was compelled to veto items that funded duplicative services, went to organizations who had previously received federal COVID-relief funds, or were not properly vetted projects,” said Mayor Bronson.
The proposed list of projects to receive funding are here, and those vetoed by Mayor Bronson can be found here.
The Administration said it made multiple attempts to apply this one-time funding source to key Municipal needs, such as fuel for police cars and fire trucks.
Additionally, efforts were made to repair the Sullivan Arena and replace a failing roof on the Maintenance and Operations building where Municipal snowplow equipment is stored and maintained. These projects were unfortunately not approved or selected by the Assembly.
