Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson unveils spending plan for first half of American Rescue Plan money
CLEVELAND, Ohio – After months of anticipation, outgoing Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson on Thursday unveiled his plan for spending the first half of the city’s American Rescue Plan stimulus money on revenue recovery, community and economic development and public safety.
Proposed expenses include new police and EMS vehicles, small business aid and home improvement grants for homeowners in distressed neighborhoods, according to Sharon Dumas, Jackson’s chief of staff and interim finance director, who stood in for the mayor during a virtual news conference.
The city is just beginning to spend its first round of stimulus money – about $255 million, which hit city coffers in June. It’s unclear how much of Jackson’s spending plan will be executed before he leaves office in January, versus how much will be in the hands of the next mayor.
The second half of the $511 million will arrive in June 2022 and will be entirely allocated by the next mayor – either Council President Kevin Kelley or nonprofit executive Justin Bibb.
“The COVID-19 pandemic changed Cleveland,” Dumas said. “Much of the economic and social progress we were making as a community was halted by a disease that fundamentally altered how we spent time with our family, engaged our neighbors, experienced our communities, went to work, and so much more…
“While the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, we are already at work on positioning Cleveland to not only regain the momentum we lost due to the pandemic, but also to begin a true economic recovery that ultimately leads to Cleveland becoming a safer, healthier and more equitable city,” Dumas said.
Of the first batch of stimulus money, Jackson wants a lion’s share – about $108 million – to make up for revenues lost due to the pandemic. The city lost millions in income tax, admissions tax, and other revenues in 2020, which usually support city services like housing court, mediation between landlords and tenants, cybersecurity, virtual resident services, vacant lot maintenance and recreation center operations, Dumas said.
The remainder of Jackson’s spending plan includes $75 million for community and economic development programs, $15 million for “strategic” demolition and $26 million for public safety.
Council has only approved two pieces legislation for spending stimulus cash: $5 million on supporting the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, and $20 million earmarked for an ambiguous broadband expansion project.
It remains unclear who would own or operate the broadband network, how long it would take to complete or how far the money would go, but Dumas reiterated Thursday that encumbering the $20 million was necessary immediately to begin the planning process.
Dumas did not directly answer a reporter’s question about whether future stimulus allocations would be introduced to City Council as specific plans or as earmarked dollar amounts for broad categories.
As far as how quickly the city will spend the stimulus money, Dumas said it depends on the type of expenses.
“If it is items that we can push into the community quickly, like home repair grants, it will be spent much faster,” Dumas said. “If it’s things that will require a more intense planning, like broadband, it’ll be spent at a slower rate.”
All of the $511 million must be allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026, or the city will have to return the remainder to the U.S. Treasury.
Community development
Community development spending will focus on new home construction, preserving the existing housing stock and supporting residents in need, Community Development Director Michiel Wackers said. The programs are expected to directly impact 10,000 Cleveland households and broadly address systemic issues around housing insecurity, unsafe housing, economic insecurity and violence, Wackers said.
About $27.6 million will improve housing through new construction financing, homebuyer lending, down payment assistance, and gap financing for housing development and affordable housing.
An additional $19.7 million will be put toward the preservation of existing housing stock for longtime residents in distressed neighborhoods through home rehab and home repair grants, including remediation of lead-based hazards. Neither Wackers nor Dumas mentioned a $17.5 million request for stimulus funds from the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition to address lead in the city’s housing stock.
About $10.5 million is designated for supporting vulnerable residents through emergency food assistance, emergency rental assistance and appraisal intervention.
“The pandemic has impacted Cleveland neighborhoods, in particular distressed- and middle-neighborhoods,” Wackers said. “Without affordable, safe and quality housing, neighborhoods cannot overcome the challenges that they face.”
Economic development
Economic Development Director David Ebersole said stimulus spending on the business sector will focus on equitable investments in small businesses and neighborhoods most impacted by the pandemic.
The city will seek to help small businesses recover from the pandemic and to foster the creation of new businesses, especially minority- and women-owned businesses who have historically lacked access to capital, Ebersole said.
In neighborhoods that have suffered from disinvestment, the city will make “strategic investments” to encourage equitable development and create affordable housing and small-business opportunities, he said.
The city also hopes to stoke investments from the private and civic sector to create “lasting change,” Ebersole said.
Ebersole did not elaborate on the dollar amounts that would be dedicated to each category.
Public safety
The $26 million for public safety will go toward new vehicles, equipment and technology, Assistant Safety Director Timothy Hennessy said.
The plan includes new ambulances and police vehicles, which experienced “extraordinary wear and tear” during the pandemic, he said.
The city also plans to increase the number of cameras that connect to the police department’s Real Time Crime Center.
Hennessy didn’t provide further details about what new equipment or technology would be purchased with stimulus money.
When the city solicited residents’ priorities for the money through surveys in July, the most popular concern among the more than 2,000 respondents was public safety.
Read more: Cleveland getting 8th most American Rescue Plan stimulus money in the country: Here’s the Top 10 cities receiving the most
