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."