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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Common Council members were shocked Thursday to discover that the city has to use $19 million in federal pandemic funds to plug budget holes — or risk Washington taking back the funds.
“This holiday season, the ghost of Christmas past that is haunting City Hall is the Brown administration’s failure to get these funds out on the street,” said Fillmore District Council Member Mitchell Nowakowski, referring to former Mayor Byron W. Brown, who resigned in October.
But that’s not the only bad news coming from City Hall.
Acting Mayor Christopher Scanlon said Buffalo Water misspent another $11 million in American Rescue Plan funds, writing in a letter to the council, “Despite being approved … to forgive outstanding residential water bills, these funds were used by Buffalo Water on capital improvements. I am incredibly disheartened by this discovery.”
The shock of Common Council members like Masten District representative Zeneta Everhart turned to anger at a hastily arranged news conference on Thursday.
“Money that was supposed to be used in marginalized communities where people can’t afford to pay their water bills … that money was stolen from them,” Everhart said. “The information we received is insane. Where I’m from, in the ‘hood, it’s called robbing Peter to pay Paul. Who are we robbing? The least of us. And it’s not OK.”
Outgoing Buffalo Water Board Chair O.J. McFoy disputed that, writing in an email, “Unequivocally, there has been no miss-utilization (sic) of ARP funds.”
McFoy stressed Friday that the money was spent “in full compliance” with federal guidelines. He said former Brown finance commissioner Delano Dowell approved the use of funds to replace lead service lines.
But that’s not what McFoy told the council in October. When University District Council Member Rasheed Wyatt asked what the $11 million was used for, McFoy said, “That was going to debt relief and arrearages for our customers. So we were able to apply that for our customers and so they have seen … their arrearages went way down.”
Scanlon on Friday said in a statement, “I am deeply disappointed to have discovered through an independent audit review undertaken at my direction that ARPA funds allocated to the Buffalo Water Board were redirected from their intended purpose.”
Nowakowski said only the council had the power to allocate and dispose of those funds.
“To not respect the Common Council and respect the sewer and water payers of this city — to then use it for something else — and we find out at the last hour, is not only disappointing, it’s disgusting,” he said.
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