DOVER — The amount of funding that cities and towns throughout Delaware will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act is based on a complicated formula used to determine Community Development …
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By Mike FinneyDOVER — The amount of funding that cities and towns throughout Delaware will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act is based on a complicated formula used to determine Community Development Block Grants, while county aid is decided only by population.
So when Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen found out that his city, the state capital, would be eligible for $6.9 million in funding from the ARPA, while the city of Newark would qualify for $17.1 million, he was not very happy.
In 2019, Dover had a population of more than 37,500 people, while Newark had a population of almost 33,500.
“Here’s the rub. We are the first-largest city in Delaware land-area wise and the second-most populated next to Wilmington. … Where is the equity? Subsequently, we have been in touch with the National League of Cities and our congressional delegation, Sens. (Tom) Carper and (Chris) Coons and Rep. (Lisa) Blunt Rochester to remedy this inequality. Hopefully, we can resolve this matter with their help.”
The CDBG formula takes into account several criteria — among them population, poverty and the age and density of housing — as it was designed for grants administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote affordable housing and expand economic opportunities for low-income households.
The state of Delaware announced last week that a projected $85.6 million will go to 55 local governments throughout Delaware as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan economic stimulus package that was signed by President Joe Biden on March 11.
State Treasurer Colleen Davis has taken the lead role in distributing the funding assistance in Delaware.
Ms. Davis, as the custodian of Delaware funds, will receive the allocation for the state’s local governments and make disbursements in accordance with ARPA. Wilmington, Dover and the three county governments will receive ARPA funds directly from the U.S. Treasury.
“We are in contact with the federal government and are putting processes in place to ensure prompt distribution of ARPA funds to nonmetropolitan cities and towns in Delaware,” said Ms. Davis. “We will coordinate with local officials and make every effort to expedite the distributions, so they can begin helping constituents.”
She added that the money will be distributed through her office in two equal installments — one in the coming weeks or months and another about a year later.
Wilmington and Dover, which are both considered metropolitan municipalities, are miles apart in ARPA funding. Wilmington will likely receive more than $55 million, while Dover is expected to get just under $7 million.
Yet Newark topped the list of smaller cities and towns in Delaware when it came to receiving ARPA funding at just more than $17 million. Middletown, also designated nonmetropolitan, is expecting to receive just more than $11.5 million, while Dover, Smyrna and Milford will get around $6 million each in economic stimulus funds.
“There’s no way this side of hell that the city of Newark should get $17.1 million, and we get $6.9 (million), as projected. So we’re going to (try to find) several, several, several ways to rectify this,” said Mayor Christiansen.
Seaford and Georgetown have been told to expect about $4 million each in economic help.
A total of 19 smaller towns scattered around Delaware have been projected to receive over a million dollars each.
Meanwhile, New Castle County is expected to receive more than $108 million, Sussex County more than $45 million and Kent County just more than $35 million, according to the State Treasurer’s Office.
Now, Ms. Davis said her office is trying to get the right amount of money into the right places.
“We are coordinating with the Department of Finance and the Office of Management and Budget and are committed to creating a process to streamline the payments,” she said. “Everyone in our office will do whatever is needed to efficiently and securely get the funds where they are needed as quickly as possible.”
According to Ms. Davis, “We are in discussions with officials in the U.S. Treasury and are standing by, ready to receive the funds, and put them to use here in Delaware.”
Meanwhile, State Auditor Kathy McGuiness will be tasked with monitoring the federal stimulus money sent to Delaware’s state, county and local governments.
“The amount of federal fiscal aid coming to county and local governments is unprecedented,” Ms. McGuiness said. “As the state’s fiscal watchdog, I will be monitoring the flow of these millions of taxpayer dollars to help ensure the money is used as intended: to help Delawareans recover from the financially detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Ms. McGuiness’ plan to follow the money involves identifying state and local recipients of the federal dollars; creating and maintaining an online fund tracker to help the public see how much money each governmental entity has received; and continued monitoring of her office’s fraud hotline for any reports of misused ARPA funds.
Dover in wait-and-see mode
Along with Mayor Christiansen, Randy Robertson, Dover’s city manager, is hopeful the city might be able to attain more federal funding assistance.
“The unique thing about Dover apparently is, whenever a final number is given to us, given the nature of how this is transpiring, is the fact that we are on the borderline of being a CDBG ... recipient for 20-plus years (and that) might have a role in the decision-making for the final number,” Mr. Robertson said during last week’s City Council meeting. “It could be higher.
“It’s a good story so far, but we’ve already had people saying, ‘When can I buy my new fire engine?’ and ‘When can we buy a new plot of land?’ and that’s a little early, at this point in time, so there’s more to follow on that.”
While Dover waits to see what the final decision is on the amount it is allotted in the ARPA, Mr. Robertson and Matt Harline, the assistant city manager, will be meeting and trying to identify people and places where the stimulus money will be best used.
“So independent of the meetings, Mr. Harline and I will be looking at some possible nominations, what they look like, what we think notional costs might be, the advisability of asking,” said Mr. Robertson. “I think these need to be macro-level kinds of projects.
“So I might be coming out to (City Council members and city staff) independently, all by email, and saying, ‘Here’s three or four nods. Which direction would you head if all things were equal?’ That’s just to get some kind of priority list on how to do this.”
Members of Dover City Council have a retreat tentatively scheduled for April 24, when many of those key decisions on where the federal funds should be allocated could be discussed.
There is already plenty of interest and need in obtaining some of the funding, such as Code Purple Kent County hoping to get a plot of land outside the city to install small shelters to help the homeless, as well as trying to find a new home for the Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing.
“We’re already putting our paperwork together for all this money that’s come into Kent County, and we’d like to see a little piece of the pie,” said Ennio Emmanuel, executive director for Code Purple Kent County, while demonstrating small shelters a week-and-a-half ago. “It would allow us to bring them ... (into a small shelter) and then put them in situations that suit their more long-term needs. So I’m excited.”
