Syracuse’s American Rescue Plan funding to target infrastructure, jobs, city government operations

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh on Friday outlined plans for the city’s $123 million in federal aid through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), including neighborhoods, infrastructure, jobs, and the economy.

Plans also call for making city government “more resilient and responsive,” per a Friday news release from Walsh’s office.

Walsh says he’ll work with Syracuse Common Council to begin deploying funds to the “most time sensitive priorities immediately.”

“Our plans answer the call to build a stronger and more equitable City of Syracuse coming out of the pandemic. Syracuse survived a disaster that put thousands of people out of work, destabilized children and families and caused severe illness and death. The signs of suffering are evident in housing, violence, youth and families,” said Mayor Walsh. “Working with the Syracuse Common Council, we will begin deploying funds to time sensitive critical programs immediately and will proceed quickly with community engagement and planning on other programs and projects.”

The U.S. Treasury Department transferred $61.5 million, the first half of the city’s ARPA relief, to Syracuse this past Tuesday.

ARPA spending plan

Walsh’s plans include spending ARPA funds on 30 initiatives across four strategic priorities.

They include $29.8 million for work on infrastructure and public spaces. The funding will target municipal sidewalks, bus rapid-transit traffic-signal prioritization, Interstate 81 (I-81) planning, broadband access, water-infrastructure projects, urban-forest tree planting, and neighborhood-parks improvements and maintenance.

In addition, Syracuse will spend $12.3 million to invest in jobs and economic recovery. The funding will target careers and jobs in applied trades, technology and I-81, economic development in minority and underinvested neighborhoods, and grants for arts and culture.

The city will also spend $34.8 million to support children, families, and neighborhoods through new housing construction and rehabilitation, lead remediation, youth employment, violence intervention, and family, youth, and seniors’ assistance through community centers.

Plans also call for spending $46 million for “enhancing government resilience and response,” including revenue restoration, fire training and emergency response, public safety and police accountability, programs for diversionary response to mental-health-related police calls, and digital infrastructure and cybersecurity.

As anticipated in the budget enacted for the upcoming fiscal year 2022, the city will use about $22 million in relief funds to restore city-government operations services to pre-pandemic levels. It will also set aside about $16.5 million to offset revenue reductions anticipated in future fiscal years, Walsh’s office said.

According to federal guidance, funds designated to replace public-sector revenue loss can be used in additional areas, including maintenance of infrastructure, new infrastructure, cybersecurity and critical hardware and software, and public safety.

Instead of using ARPA funds to replenish the city’s fund balance, Walsh will apply funds from a projected surplus in the current fiscal year 2021 to restore reserves to more than 20 percent of the city’s annual budget. The reserves were severely depleted due to the pandemic, but ARPA guidance precludes using relief dollars for reserves.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) on Friday issued a statement about Syracuse’s plans for the funding.

“As Majority Leader, I made funding state and local governments my top priority in the American Rescue Plan and fought so hard to ensure that places like Syracuse would get the resources needed to both defeat COVID and revive our local economies,” Schumer said. “This plan — which invests in children and families, small businesses, critical infrastructure and restoring vital city services — is a first step towards a brighter future for Syracuse.”