Posted on 09/11/24
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore City, MD — Sept. 11, 2024 - While the pandemic itself feels far behind us, a federal COVID funding deadline is now right around the corner. Leaving Baltimore City with millions left to spend in a short amount of time.
In 2021, Baltimore City was handed $641 million from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA). But the one-time gift from the federal government came with two deadlines. All of the money must be obligated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026. Whatever remains after those deadlines pass will be returned to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
At first glance, the city’s ARPA dashboard shows 100% of the funds have already been “committed.” However, in order to officially be “obligated”, the money must be formally assigned to a project.
Less than four months away from the deadline, $12.7 million is earmarked under “pending projects.” Seemingly, indicating that funding is still unaccounted for. The Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs (Recovery Office) also released a report stating, as of June, just $445 million was officially obligated.
When asked for an updated amount on Tuesday, the Recovery Office explained the US Treasury Department recently expanded its obligation requirements. Under the new definition, they claim $603 million has now been obligated -- still leaving $38 million at risk of being returned.
“To have any money still outstanding really makes no sense at all,” said taxpayer advocate David Williams.
Williams warns that even if the money is obligated in time, at this point, “When you spend money quickly, you don't do the oversight you don't do the proper oversight to make sure it's spent wisely. And the city doesn't have a good track record when it comes to spending money,” he said.
A report by the Inspector General in February confirmed a local non-profit misspent more than $100,000 ARPA dollars. Also in February, “The obligation deadline is for sure going to be a challenge,” said Recovery Office Director Shamiah Kerney at a city hall hearing.
The mayor’s chief recovery officer admitted the city’s slow spending is cause for concern.
“It’s a lot of money that has to be moved in a short period of time,” she said.
Hoping to speed things up, the city allocated $8 million ARPA dollars to an outside consulting firm. The contract says Guidehouse was hired to help decide where the money should be spent. That price will be paid on top of the millions already set aside for city staff to do just that.
“Every dollar that goes to a consultant is $1 that is not going to the citizens of Baltimore to improve their lives, to improve infrastructure,” said Williams, “This $641 million was an absolute gift to the city of Baltimore and now they're squandering that gift.”
FOX45 sent the following questions to the Mayor’s office on Tuesday:
To the first question, the Recovery Office simply replied, “Yes.” To the second question they replied, “The Mayor's Office of Recovery Programs implements a robust subrecipient monitoring program to include city agencies, quasi government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The Office of Recovery Programs monitors over 100 recipients. To ensure robust monitoring and adherence with federal laws and guidance, additional capacity is necessary.”
“This is money that could have helped the city, the citizens of the city, and yet it may not even be spent at the end of the day,” said Williams.