by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The federal government is in the process of giving the City about $2.8 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Monday, the City Council Finance Committee voted to defer the disbursement of those funds until its members can better understand who will get the money and what it will be used for.
According to the legislation, $2.779 million has been appropriated from the United States Department of Housing & Urban Development through its Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program. Those funds must be allocated by Sept. 30 and they will be disbursed by the City’s Housing and Neighborhoods Department, which is run by Wight Greger.
“We inherited the title from the federal government and it’s for one-time assistance,” said Greger.
According to Greger, the money will be dispersed to several local agencies and nonprofits that assist the homeless and those is critical need and on the verge of becoming homeless.
“The money will not just go to the agencies and sit there,” she said, adding part of the federal program is to allocate the dollars and demonstrate — through data monitoring — how the money was spent.
A majority of the Finance Committee is concerned with two things: the grant appears to be one-time funding that is a stopgap measure and the funds are going to agencies bemoaning proposed budget cuts.
“Is this going to fix the problem or defer the issue?” said Finance member Bill Bishop.
“I think that’s a philosophical debate,” said Greger, adding she isn’t sure if the program is sustainable.
Finance member Denise Lee suggested deferring the bill until after the Committee gets a better look at which agencies will get part of the funds and exactly how much. Once that’s determined, she suggested the City-provided portion of their budgets potentially be cut by the amount each will get through the ARRA program.
“This could help supplement the nonprofits,” said Lee.
Greger explained that the money has been given to the City for her department to disperse. The agencies that will get the money, she said, have protocols in place for determining exactly how it’s spent.
“There are a number of strategies in the bill that we can use the money on,” said Greger. “We have to have all the agencies under contract by Sept. 30 or we lose the money.”
Lee believes the money could be better used if placed in the City’s general fund — if that’s permissible.
“I want to put this money towards the City,” said Lee. “I am not interested in giving it to the agencies. I love the nonprofits, but we have to provide the essential services.”
Greger explained the language of the federal grant limits the use of the funds.
“The activities are very specific from HUD,” said Greger. “It’s very prescriptive. We are not allowed to keep the money. It has to be pushed to the agencies. What they can spend the money on is in the federal law.”
The Finance Committee did approve a bill that appropriates the current balance of the Special Law Enforcement Trust for several uses. Getting a majority of the $373,856 is the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team and Bomb Squad ($264,662). The rest of the funds will be divided among the MaliVai Washington Foundation ($15,000), Hubbard House ($65,000), Builder’s Care ($20,000), Character Counts ($7,500), Metro Kids Konnection ($6,694) and the Justice Coalition ($6,693).
Money is deposited into the trust fund through fines and forfeitures. Maxine Person, budget officer for JSO, said the local agencies apply for the funds. Those applications are reviewed by Sheriff John Rutherford, who determines which agencies will receive funds and how much each will get.
The Florida Statute that governs the trust fund allows for several uses of the money. It also stipulates that no less than 15 percent of the funds go to nonprofits.
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