Federal Dollars Could Go To Offset Greendale Budget, Ease Inflation

GREENDALE, WI — The Village of Greendale may focus on using federal American Rescue Plan Act money for capital projects and to keep the budget ironed out amid pandemic losses and decades-high inflation.

The Village Board of Trustees discussed the matter on Tuesday but did not make any decisions on how to spend further federal funds. Village Manager Mike Hawes told the board Tuesday that the village can expect the second half of the funds by the end of June, bringing the total ARPA funding to about $1.4 million.

So far, the village has set aside about $450,000 of the ARPA funds to keep the village fund balance within policy and to offset lost revenues from the pandemic, Hawes told the board.

Looking forward, Hawes said village staff is looking at using an additional $160,000 of the ARPA money for the same purpose, but that hasn't yet been confirmed by the board. The Village Board could use additional money toward capital projects, such as village infrastructure, Hawes said.

Hawes recommended the village have a general game plan of setting aside leftover ARPA money and using it in future budget years to free up tax dollars. As for infrastructure spending, Hawes said staff would recommend spending on existing projects that are in need instead of creating new ones.

"Going into 2023, our allowable tax levy increase will likely be below rate of inflation," Hawes told the board.

By the end of 2022, Hawes said village officials will have a better picture of what the money can be used for.

Allocating ARPA aid to capital projects and using property taxes for the village general fund to account for rising costs is a general plan Hawes would propose, he told the board, but there is more board discussion to be had on what the capital projects could be, he added.

Trustee Ronald Barbian said during the meeting it would be nice if the ARPA money could be used to help residents as they deal with rising inflation.

At one point, some trustees floated the idea of using ARPA money to offset residents' utility costs, Hawes said in the meeting. But Hawes advised against that, or limiting it to $10,000, because the village could see a bigger bang for its buck for non-utility uses.