Boston Council Presses Administration on $145.7 Million in Unobligated ARPA Funds

BOSTON — September 4, 2024 — Boston's COVID-19 Recovery Committee scrutinizes $145.7 million in unobligated ARPA funds with a year-end deadline. Committee Chair Sharon Durkan convened the September 4 hearing on Docket 0473, pressing a panel of administration officials — including Chief Financial Officer Ashley Groffenberger, Housing Chief Sheila Dillon, and Arts and Culture Chief Kara Elliott Ortega — on how the city will obligate the remaining balance of its $558.7 million American Rescue Plan award before the December 31, 2024 federal deadline. Groffenberger confirmed the city has spent $323.8 million and obligated another $82.2 million as of June 30, leaving $145.7 million unencumbered; a separate $7 million has never been appropriated and will require an additional council order. Dillon said the Mayor's Office of Housing has committed $35.7 million to acquire 326 tenanted market-rate units at roughly $111,000 per unit, calling it "a bargain," and described plan-B backup projects in case large-site developments in Charlestown, Chinatown, and Roxbury hit delays. Durkan closed the hearing bluntly: "Summer's over. We have a lot of work to be done."