A backroom deal on how to spend $25.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars includes $6 million that will be disbursed among Monroe County’s suburbs for senior and youth programming. The money will be divided based on each town’s population. The city is excluded. Towns can apply for reimbursements for expenditures.
“Monroe County claims equity is at the foundation of its ARPA program, but this one fails to meet that standard. Not only is the city prohibited from accessing these funds, the dollars will not be distributed equitably among the suburbs,” said Legislator Barnhart. “By solely using population instead of need, wealthy communities would disproportionately benefit from pandemic relief dollars.”
For example, Sweden has more youth and seniors experiencing poverty than Pittsford – in both rate and numbers. Yet Sweden would be eligible for less than half as much in funding (an estimated $147,372 for Sweden vs. $334,339 for Pittsford based on 2022 population figures).
Legislator Barnhart created a conceptual chart to show how much aid towns would get if dollars if poverty were factored in. There are various methodologies and data sources that could be employed, but it’s clear certain towns would benefit more from weighting poverty into calculations, among them Irondequoit, which Legislator Barnhart represents.
“Whatever formula is used, it should have an equity component so aid can be directed where it is needed most,” said Legislator Barnhart. “ARPA is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address pandemic impacts, which we know were worse for socioeconomically disadvantaged people.”
Legislator Barnhart also has concerns that some towns may not have plans for this funding, and likely cannot submit for recent eligible expenses.
Meanwhile, the ARPA package contains a $6 million fund created for nonprofits in distressed census tracts, almost all located in the City of Rochester. Any nonprofit can apply, not just those serving youth and seniors.
“We are one county, and should behave that way. People face economic hardship in both the city and the suburbs. Yet only the city nonprofit fund is subject to means-testing,” said Legislator Rachel Barnhart.
The ARPA spending package will be voted on in tomorrow’s Ways and Means meeting. Legislator Barnhart plans to vote no, and then seek to sever and amend parts of the proposal, including deeply flawed proposed housing contracts, at next month’s full legislature meeting.
“We are being rushed into one up or down vote on a $25.4 million plan. This is what happened in the fall of 2022, and that directly led to the Community Resource Collaborative scandal and missing funds. I’m not going to be pressured like that again,” said Legislator Barnhart.
Sources:
Legislation (last two pages has an overview)
Map: Census # of Youth in Poverty in Monroe County
Map: Census # of Seniors in Poverty in Monroe County
Map: Census % of Youth in Poverty in Monroe County
Map: Census % of Seniors in Poverty in Monroe County
Bring Monroe Back July 2021 Report (see page 10 for equity commitment)