Tuesday, October 1
Proposed Investment of Funds Ensures Providence Utilizes All Federal Funds to Support Unmet Community Needs
Mayor Brett P. Smiley today announced amendments to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) ordinance I, II and the COVID-19 Equities Program that would reinvest ordinance lines that are not on track to be fully spent into the Housing Trust and into programs that support unmet community needs. The Providence City Council will introduce these amendments this week, including a change that would allocate all ARPA funding not contracted by the end of the year into the Housing Trust, ensuring that Providence commits all federal funds to target urgent community needs before the obligation deadline at the end of this year.
“My Administration is committed to maximizing every federal dollar available to us on high-impact programs and initiatives that will have long-term, tangible benefits for our neighbors,” said Mayor Brett Smiley. “As we approached the federal obligation deadline, we began to thoughtfully review each line item not currently contracted and developed a final obligation strategy to ensure that all of the remaining ARPA funding would be spent and targeted to meet the most urgent needs of our community. This proposed investment plan will further bolster our multi-pronged approach to support the development of new housing and will ensure that Providence utilizes every last ARPA dollar on meaningful investments into our community.”
Currently, out of the $166M of ARPA funding the City of Providence received from the US Treasury in 2021, 63 ordinance lines have already been spent or are contracted to be spent by 2026. This proposal reinvests the unspent funds, totaling only $1.47M, in the final 10 ordinance lines that are not currently spent or contracted towards community-based organizations to better support urgent community needs and the construction, development and redevelopment of affordable housing across the city. Additionally, this proposal shifts $2.94M of unspent COVID-19 Equities Program ordinance funding to support community based programming that allocates all federal dollars and remains consistent with the recommendations in the Providence Municipal Reparation’s Commission report. In total, this final obligation strategy represents over $4.4M in targeted investments to address unmet community needs.
The proposed revisions to the ARPA I and II ordinances will reinvest funding from 10 ordinance lines that were successfully completed with a remaining balance or did not have a viable path to completion. Listed below are the lines that have been proposed for reinvestment, totaling $1,472,272.
| Ordinance Line | Original
Allocation |
Notes | Potential for Reinvestment |
| Anti-Violence Investments | $2,000,000 | Remaining balance after successful Youth Mentorships and Summer Jobs. Created jobs for 418 students across 13 organizations in the city. | $59,129.41 |
| Cranston Street Armory | $1,000,000 | Recommended reinvestment given timeline. | $1,000,000 |
| Direct Relief to Providence Residents | $500,000 | Program successfully completed. Confirmed remaining balance. | $3,721 |
| Emergency Housing Solutions | $3,774,410 | Program successfully completed. Remaining balance from cost savings or funds forfeited by community partners. | $80,224.52 |
| Expand Rapid Rehousing | $1,225,590 | Program successfully completed. Remaining balance from cost savings or funds forfeited by community partners. | $39,796.53 |
| Hardest Hit Community Organization | $300,000 | Program successfully completed. Confirmed remaining balance. | $5,130 |
| Homelessness Intervention | $500,000 | Program successfully completed. Confirmed remaining balance. | $710 |
| Independent Auditor | $300,000 | Audit work has been deemed complete. Remaining balance confirmed. | $278,163.78 |
| Summer Jobs for Providence Youth | $1,000,000 | Program successfully completed. Confirmed remaining balance. | $3,527.65 |
| Year-round Youth Jobs | $1,000,000 | Program successfully completed. Confirmed remaining balance. | $1,869.82 |
| Total: | $1,472,272.71 |
In addition, upon conducting a line-by-line review of the remaining unspent COVID-19 Equities Program funding, the Administration proposed reinvesting $2,943,458.02 of that ordinance into targeted programming that aligns with the original goals of the ordinances to ensure all of that funding is obligated. The remaining funds from the 10 unfunded ordinance lines and the unspent COVID-19 Equities Program will be dedicated to affordable housing and community investments. For unspent dollars from the COVID-19 Equities Program, all funding will be spent in alignment with the originally proposed ordinance lines but be targeted towards community-based organizations with aligned missions.
Listed below are the proposed investment categories.
| Investment Categories | Allocation |
| Funding for Community Investments | $2,000,000 |
| Funding for the Housing Trust | $2,415,730.73 |
| Total | $4,415,730.73 |
Per federal law, these funds must be allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.