City Of Wilmington: Wilmington Announces Appropriation Of American Rescue Plan Funds

Press release from the City of Wilmington:

12/09/2021 10:00 PM

Mayor and Council say goal is to use this once in a lifetime federal funding opportunity to help resolve many of the city’s most pressing problems

Mayor Mike Purzycki and Wilmington City Council have identified an array of categories for the unprecedented distribution of $55.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds over a two-year budgeting period. The two branches of government say the goal of the plan is for ARPA funds to be deployed throughout the City to help resolve some of the City’s most pressing needs, which affect Wilmington residents in various ways, therefore making the people and neighborhoods of Wilmington stronger and more prosperous.
 
Council passed a Resolution at tonight’s meeting that identified multiple categories of funding. They include neighborhood revitalization, reducing gun violence, improving education, increasing access to capital for budding entrepreneurs, training City residents for employment, and stabilizing the government’s financial condition.
 
Further details of the City’s ARPA plan are being developed and will be announced in the new year. The categories of funding and the projected range of spending for each category are currently projected to be as follows: 

• Revenue Replacement of $12 million to solidify the City’s financial condition because of revenue lost due to COVID-19;
• Neighborhood Revitalization of $22 million for capital investment in historically underserved neighborhoods;
• Workforce Development investment of $4 million to fund skills training and internships for employment;
• Community investment of $5 million to assist nonprofits in restoring COVID-affected programming for communities, including $300,000 for distribution by City Council. 

“The American Rescue Fund allocation provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to make Wilmington’s people and neighborhoods stronger and more prosperous,” said Mayor Purzycki. “Instead of having the ability to bring about change in a piecemeal fashion based on the availability of annual budgeted revenue, we can be transformational on multiple fronts and hopefully bring about quicker results. I view this as an exciting time to complete multiple projects that will help the entire City.” 

“This once-in-a lifetime funding opportunity is a chance for us to bring both immediate and long-lasting change to Wilmington’s most neglected neighborhoods,” said Council Finance Committee Chair Chris Johnson. “As Council works with the Administration to drill down on the details of each and every project, we look forward to continuing to engage the public regarding crafting solutions to fix our great City.”

COMMUNITY AND MEDIA INQUIRIES: 

John Rago

Deputy Chief of Staff
City of Wilmington, Office of the Mayor
Mobile: (302) 420-7928
Email: jrago@WilmingtonDE.gov

This press release was produced by the City of Wilmington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.