GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay’s finance committee unanimously voted last week in favor of Mayor Eric Genrich’s plan for the $23 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Up next is the Green Bay City Council.
Genrich says the funds can’t go just anywhere, as there’s certain criteria that must be met.
Once money is allocated to one of the buckets, it doesn’t mean it’s there for good.
“It definitely is flexible moving forward, but this gives us the authority to make some of those decisions as the administration,” said Genrich. “And bring forward discrete projects for our common council to weigh in on.”
To recap, of the $23 million, $10 million will go towards the city’s capital needs, like road repairs, followed by $6 million to affordable housing, $2 million for crime prevention and $1 million for arts, culture, and tourism.
District 9 Alderperson Brian Johnson mostly agrees with what’s been proposed.
“The only thing I really didn’t disagree with was the one time allocation of funds to balance our budget,” said Johnson. “I just don’t like the use of one time funding for budget allocations, but it was a small amount.”
With crime prevention being a top three write in suggestion on a resident survey, Johnson says the $2 million allocated for that is adequate.
“At some point, you hit a diminishing value, a diminishing law of returns where putting more money into a bucket doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.”
Adding, law enforcement officials also agree with what’s been allocated as of now.
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