New Britain Has $56 million in Pandemic Recovery Funds To Meet Social, Human and Capital Needs
Staff reports
NEW BRITAIN – Data on how the City has committed federal COVID relief funds shows that large amounts are going for public works, infrastructure and major capital projects –projects beyond what city finances could afford in five years let alone one or two years.
New Britain is receiving $56,132,092 through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the 2021 Biden Administration law intended to help communities recover from the pandemic and subsequent economic hardships of residents and businesses. The total includes $42,050,789 in direct federal aid and another $14,081,304 in state pass-through money.
Broadly speaking cities and towns may use ARPA funds, according to the U.S. Treasury, to “fight the pandemic and support families and businesses struggling with its public health and economic impacts, maintain vital public services, even amid declines in revenue resulting from the crisis, build a strong, resilient, and equitable recovery by making investments that support long-term growth and opportunity.”
The Stewart administration is generally following the playbook prescribed in requirements for use of the federal money. The state Office of Policy and Management (OPM) strictly monitors ARPA expenditures in the cities and towns for compliance and adherence to eligible uses. Nonetheless the pandemic-caused federal funding is providing an unprecedented windfall to address all sorts of community needs.
High profile projects include a $5 million investment for citywide internet access and $10 million for new fields and facilities at Osgood Park. These initiatives have been rolled out by Republican Mayor Erin Stewart this summer as the city steadily spends down the one-time federal COVID allocations. Current official reports as of the beginning of 2022 showed that New Britain ARPA expenditures totaled $29,307,656 (See Table below)
That funding — rather than the city budget or new municipal bonding —will continue to be the source for investments and resources for municipal government to use as long as the funds last. The New Britain School District and Board of Education is separately receiving $59,968,529 in ARPA School Emergency Relief funds (ESSR).
The city’s improvements at Osgood Park are one such expense, with $8,850,000 of the COVID relief funds allocated. The amount of the project has subsequently increased to $10 million for the park that is home to Police Athletic League activities. The original amount is from data reported in January of 2022.
That same January report also says that the development project currently underway at the corner of Main and Bank Streets apparently received a subsidy from the allocation of $650,000 in COVID relief funds for the “Remediation and Demolition of 267-277 Main Street.” The long-vacant Burritt Bank building and block is the site of Jasko Development’s $14 million high-end rental housing project that is adjacent to New Britain’s Fastrak station.
City Hall Watch
A $1,906,056 demolition of the former Thomas Aquinas High School on Kelsey Street also used the city’s COVID relief funds, another long dormant site slated for housing development. The January report also says the city allocated another $912,460 of the relief funds for “the creation of a nursing annex at the New Britain Senior Center” on Pearl Street. Another $10 million can be used to recover pandemic-related revenue losses which is the default amount allowed. According to reports $6 million in ARPA funds have been applied to “insurance overages.”
A critical infrastructure need is an estimated $26 million three-phase project for upgrades to the city’s aging water system. Loans through the state Department of Public Health’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program are being sought and ARPA can or will address a portion of a critical infrastructure need. Overall the Water Department’s Flush Program needs an estimated $90 million for maintenance of sewer and water lines.
The tens of millions of dollars in assistance that Congress and the President have provided to New Britain give a great deal of discretion to city hall on how it can be spent. The federal regulation that concerns the use of the COVID relief aid to the city says that the city, “may use funds to respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts.” Certain permitted uses for the funds specifically named in the regulation include “COVID-19 mitigation and prevention,” and, “Medical expenses related to testing and treating COVID-19.”
But federal data from a different report, apparently from the second half of 2021, at a time when the number of New Britain residents fully vaccinated was barely over 50%, appears to show the city reported to the federal government that it had obligated only $17,200 in a funding category for, “Vaccination.” That funding, the city’s January 2022 report to the federal government appears to say, was for,
Purchase of an emergency generator for the vaccine storage refrigerator at the New Britain Health Department. The NBHD is responsible for the City’s deployment of vaccines.
The city also reported that it spent another $230,000 on “Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses,” which was apparently used by the city Health Department for:
scanning and digitizing all records to allow for remote function. Residents of New Britain will be able to interact with the Health Department remotely rather than risk infection by congregating at a physical location.
The federal regulation on the use of COVID relief also specifically allows the city to provide direct economic aid to individuals, families, small businesses and non profit organizations. Measures permitted in that regulation include direct assistance to individuals, including,
- “Assistance for food; emergency housing needs; burials, home repairs, or weatherization; internet access or digital literacy; cash assistance; and assistance accessing public benefits.”
- “Paid sick, medical, or family leave programs, or assistance to expand access to health insurance.”
- “Childcare, early learning services, home visiting, or assistance for child welfare-involved families or foster youth.”
- “Programs to address the impacts of lost instructional time for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.”
- “Assistance for individuals who want and are available for work, including those who are unemployed.”
An August 21st Connecticut Mirror story reporting on the low amounts of ARPA funds allocated for housing needs across CT notes that “New Britain budgeted $3,596,056 for multiple housing expenditures” appearing to be one of very few towns to do so. It is not clear, however, how much of those funds are going to affordable housing or landlord/tenant relief in a city with aging housing stock and accelerating costs of housing for low- and moderate income households. Official reporting shows an $800,000 allocation for “New Britain Affordable Housing.”
"ARPA Expenditure To Date" Reported by City As of May 25, 2022
| Activity | Amount |
|---|---|
| Health Dept. Scanning | $ 230,000.00 |
| Health Dept. Generator | $ 17,200.00 |
| Summer Camp Scholarships | $ 10,000.00 |
| Osgood Park | $ 8,850,000.00 |
| Senior Center Nursing Annex | $ 685,230.41 |
| Communications Improvements | $ 10,000,000.00 |
| Farm. Ave Acquisition | $ 240,000.00 |
| Insurance Overages | $ 6,000,000.00 |
| Ambulances | $ 606,990.00 |
| Kids & Family Activity Guide | $ 12,180.00 |
| IT Cloud & Staff | $ 200,000.00 |
| New Brit Affordable Housing | $ 800,000.00 |
| Environmental Remediation Fund | $ 1,656,056.00 |
The regulation also permits “Assistance to small businesses” “including loans or grants to mitigate financial hardship such as declines in revenues or impacts of periods of business closure, or providing technical assistance.” Such a use would expand on an existing municipal loan program funded by federal Housing and Urban Development funding. It also allows for “Assistance to nonprofit organizations including programs, services, or capital expenditures.” In addition “premium pay to eligible workers” is an option which can include workers performing critical services,
including health care; emergency response; sanitation, disinfection, and cleaning work; maintenance work; grocery stores, restaurants, food production, and food delivery; pharmacy; biomedical research; behavioral health work; medical testing and diagnostics; home- and community-based health care or assistance with activities of daily living; family or childcare; social services work; public health work … educational work, school nutrition work, and other work required to operate a school facility; laundry work; elections work; solid waste or hazardous materials management, response, and cleanup work; work requiring physical interaction with patients; dental care work; transportation and warehousing ..
With millions of dollars still available to the city in ARPA funds early in the current fiscal year, New Britain has the flexibility to address not only infrastructure and new developments that have been heavily funded over the last year but also direct aid and assistance to residents and small businesses in the recovery from the pandemic.
