The $59.4 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds that Greensboro received has been burning a hole in the City Council’s pocket ever since it received the first check for $29.7 million in May of 2021.
It received a second check for $29.7 million in May 2022.
The federal deadline for allocating the entire $59.4 million in ARP funds was set for December 2026, but the city actually allocated all the funds on August 16 so that deadline is no longer in play. However, the City Council has decided to spend the money as if the deadline still existed and for some reason has decided to break one of the basic tenants of government funding.
Budget directors often caution elected officials not to use one time money to fund reoccurring expenses. The ARP funds are definitely one-time money and may be once-in-a-lifetime money. Certainly, at no time in the past half a century, has the federal government handed Greensboro $59.4 million with few restrictions.
When the money was first allocated to Greensboro, the City Council agreed that it should be used for a transformative project and not spent in dribs and drabs on everyday expenses. However, the idea of a transformational project went out the window and evidently it was easier to gain majority approval for dribs and drabs, like carpets, roofs and parking lots.
The City Council has also agreed to spend $990,000 for city employee health insurance. This allocation will allow the city to not raise city employee health insurance rates by 3 percent to 6 percent.
At the City Council work session on Dec. 20, Councilmembers Hugh Holston and Marikay Abuzuaiter questioned spending this one-time money on a recurring expense.
Abuzauiter said, “We don’t have anything to sustain the insurance fund.”
Holston added, “So we don’t have a buffer for next year.”
Assistant City Manager Larry Davis said, “It will be challenging to have multiple years without an increase.”
Davis noted that the city was self-insured and that the city paid about 75 percent of the cost of health insurance with the employees paying about 24 percent or 25 percent.
The $990,000 in a normal year would be paid by the employees, but by using ARP funds to fill the gap, the city will be able to keep employee health insurance costs flat and the city is picking up a higher than normal percentage of health insurance costs.
What about the tax payers increase in insurance??? Do we get any of it???? Spend the money on getting Greensboro safe again…more cops!!!
Need any more ideas?
That is just great…now make their down payment on a home loan. Only in socialist Greensboro….
I guess nobody would ever consider lower taxes and using the funds to replace that?
My my! Why are city employee’s any different than anyone else. We all have insurance premiums raised. No one comes to my rescue. My husband and I both lost our jobs at 59 and 60 years old. We were forced to pay high premiums for the Great Obama Care. We were one of a generation who believed in saving for a rainy day. It about drained our savings, but we did what we had to. I am so sick of these people who complain about insurance premiums. These same people take their vacations and buy new cars, boats and those huge homes. But they whine about insurance. And yes, I did work in the health care insurance industry for 40 years. And yes, I’ve heard it all.
There are other members in your club.
It is named “American Rescue Plan”. Doesn’t that mean that something needs to be rescued or is it just a fund to help city employees? American means all of us. So come up with something worthy of the money.
Why should only city employees get the benefit of the government handouts. Have you ever heard of giving money back to the ones that gave it to you anyway. Oh No you only know how to give to those close to you . Those stupid peons that have to give taxes to you every year,they are not important any way except to keep on giving to a group that only wants to give to their friends,etc. what the peons give to them in the first place.
Oh the joy to see those dollars pile up so the city can get to give and spend all the hard earned money given as taxes from the peons to the elite (city council) so they can give to anyone they want.
Whatever happened to the big giveaway of money for the new house. The insurance is just another way to give where it doesn’t belong.
That $59 million could give each tax payer a $1000 a year and have plenty left over for a large number of your pet projects. Only the Democratic Party could come up with this kind of situation where they were
Unsure where to spend $59 million.
The first thing that all the city council members should do is get on their knees and ask for Devine Guidance about how to spend this money WISELY for the sake of the city.
This also is a good remedy for all the people of Greensboro to do !!!!!!!!!
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Keep in mind this is AFTER one of the largest property tax increases in history. So just go ahead and spend the windfall on routine expenses that the public will now expect every year, and use that to justify yet ANOTHER tax increase. Unreal. Who keeps re-electing these people?
This Council is the one the majority of Greensboro residents that voted put in office. The rest of us can either love it or leave it.
Grifters are gonna grift.
As understood, the ARP money was to help offset losses as result of covid. To now use the ARP money to pay for recurring expenses is not within the intent of the ARP funds. The City of Greensboro should return the ARP funds to the federal treasury rather than paying for recurring expenses. Recurring expenses are not the result of Covid but rather the cost of doing city business. Of course, that will not happen. There are thieves among us. Until thieves are punished, all lives will remain unsettled.
The handling of covid was such a scam. From the lockdowns, closings, shots called vaccines to prevent covid that do not work, elections, money made by Big Pharma and others, as well as ARP funds, it was all one big scam.
My taxes went up big time this year. I live in a small house with 4 rooms. I pay my taxes each year on the payment plan.
My husband passed away this year unexpectedly . I have no idea how I will pay taxes next year. Why did my taxes go up
this year? schools need repairs really bad. We voted in more money for that …what happened to the last money allotted
a couple years back. My gas , Duke energy bills have gone up almost double from last year. Every time I drive over a pothole in the
street I will think of city councilmen and how I am to pay for my insurance . If we the people have to” live under our means”
please remember to spend wisely . When is the next election? hum?
Our local politicians read this forum. You don’t hear much from them in that they have no facts to back up their no-feasance.
Elections will not solve the problem. The low numbers of eligible voters in Greensboro who vote do not vote for quality people. The current members of City Council are not the sort of people who should be running a city. Term limits would help sort out the deadwood but until quality candidates with leadership skills step forward, there will be an uphill battle to turn around the city government, or any government.