Westchester County is continuing discussion on how to allocate American Rescue Plan Act funding, the COVID relief he federal government granted to help address the economic fallout from the pandemic and lay a foundation for recovery.
Westchester County was allocated nearly $188 million dollars In American Rescue Plan Act funding. Close to $94 million was paid to the county in May, but Westchester has yet to claim any of the money as far as revenue for the county. That’s where the public’s input comes in. Westchester County Budget Director Larry Soule spoke during the September 13 hearing at the Mount Kisco Public Library.
“There are five primary categories that we may invest the funds in. One is support the public health response. Two is to address negative economic impacts. Three is to replace public sector revenue loss. And four is premium paid for essential workers, and five is water, sewer and broadband infrastructure,” says Soule. “The funds may cover costs from March 3, 2021 through December 31, 2024.”
He says there is a December 31, 2024 deadline to allocate the funds and a December 31, 2026 deadline to spend them. A number of nonprofit professionals spoke in favor of allocating the money for services and programs under their umbrellas, including child care, and efforts to end domestic violence and human trafficking. Shirley Acevedo Buontempo is founder of Latino U College Access, which empowers low-income, first generation Latinx youth on their journeys to and through college.
“I would like to propose that funds be allocated to address the disparities faced by low income students of color in Westchester and create opportunities to bolster post-secondary outcomes for our students,” says Acevedo Buontempo. “While many needs are competing for these dollars, most of them aimed at accelerating economic recovery for individuals, families and communities, one of the surest paths to economic mobility is post-secondary or college education, be it vocational, two year or four year. Students of color who were most impacted by COVID-19, economically and otherwise, stand to benefit most from programs that address the challenges they face.”
Jan Fisher is executive director of Nonprofit Westchester.
“During the pandemic, tens of thousands of Westchester residents turned to 501c3 nonprofit organizations for help, and we delivered to all people, from all backgrounds and at all income levels, often without a great deal of public acknowledgement,” says Fisher.
She has a list of how funds should be allocated to nonprofits, including to address racial inequities.
“A majority of the nonprofit workforce consists of women and people of color, many of whom have and continue to put themselves in harm’s way in service to others,” Fisher says. “Provide premium pay for nonprofit essential workers; support nonprofits to support our most vulnerable; provide a robust grant program specifically for 501c3 nonprofits. Like other businesses, nonprofits need funding for operational expenses, and we have been left out of this.”
Sean Meade is president of the Westchester Hotel Association.
“Westchester hoteliers have lost substantial revenue over the past 18 months and are forecasting a challenging winter horizon over the months ahead,” Meade says. “We need capital to operate and to survive.”
Meade also is general manager of Cambria Hotel White Plains. Three of the county’s largest hotels closed in 2020 —the Doral Arrowwood, Hilton Westchester and the Renaissance Westchester. In total, Meade says the county has lost 20 percent of its hotel rooms and an even larger percentage of meeting space.
“Westchester County’s hotel revenues have been hit hard. In the first 12 months of the pandemic, revenues declined 56.3 percent from the previous 12 months,” Meade says. “Even with 20 percent less hotel rooms, hotel rates and occupancies remain well below the 2019 peak.”
Meantime, Westchester Children’s Association Executive Director Allison Lake urges county officials to expand the capacity of existing home-visiting programs.
“With only 424 families served in 2020 and capacity to serve only 4 percent of Westchester’s low-income, Medicaid-eligible children ages 0-3, the county’s allocation of the American Rescue Plan funding presents an essential, immediate opportunities to support children during their most critical development period,” says Lake.
Others spoke about the need to allocate money for housing, and the removal of barriers to affordable and workforce housing. Yonkers resident and activist Rita Walton has a few suggestions.
“And the three things that are really high on our list are climate change, police reform, parks,” says Walton.
She adds:
“So I’m not sure where all the buckets of money, as the county executive was mentioning, are delegated for,” Walton says. “I’m not sure if climate change money is going to be in a different bucket, but if there’s any opportunity for climate change initiatives, then that would be great to work on that.”
At various times during the hearing, Democratic Westchester County Executive George Latimer reminded the public that the normal allocation of resources can be found in the county budget, such as departmental allocations for parks.
“And it’s also important to understand that when you advocate for money to be spent, there could very well come a time when that money will not be given to us additionally by the federal government. So when we take on responsibilities, we, there is a future date at which the county on its own might have to support that outreach,” Latimer says. “So it’s very important for us to know that there is sustainability in the programs that we begin because there have been other years in the county government where we’ve had limited amount of money, and we’ve had to cut things. And I don’t want to set up future disappointments, so we’re going to have to look at all the options and all the opportunities.”
Westchester Medical Center Health Network Director of Government and Media Relations Dan Marcy has two proposals for a portion of the federal funding. The first is to help address behavioral health care needs in the county, which, as is the case elsewhere, have grown greater during the pandemic. Marcy says WMC’s Behavioral Health Center has seen a surge in volume, and WMC Health Network wants funding to address infrastructure shortcomings in treating COVID-positive and COVID behavioral health patients.
“These underlying issues can be effectively overcome if we are able to renovate two adult inpatient acute-care psychiatric units, which currently includes our designated unit for COVID-positive patients, which would require roughly $2.15 million,” says Marcy.
He says a second area to direct funds would address capacity.
“We’re asking that American Rescue Plan funds assist in the construction of a new inpatient bed tower, which would be designed to house 128 ICU-capable beds, all of which would be in private rooms to significantly reduce infection risk,” Marcy says.
The first of the two public hearings was held in New Rochelle at the end of August. New Rochelle was the early epicenter of the virus in March 2020. A spokesperson for Westchester says county officials are reviewing feedback and will outline next steps soon.
