Buffalo City Council reviews amendment allowing city to advance federal draws to Urban Renewal Agency

The Buffalo City Council held a special session to consider an amendment to the agreement between the City of Buffalo and the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency that would change how federal funds are drawn down and delivered, allowing the city to advance funds to the agency after drawdown.

Scott Billman, general counsel for the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, told the council: "What you have before you for a request for approval is an amendment of, agreement between the City of Buffalo and the City of Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency that modifies the methods that, the federal funds can be drawn down and delivered to the bureau by the city. And the modification is that the city would be able to advance funds to the bureau subsequent to drawdown. And all the all the other terms and conditions of the agreement remain the same." He added the change is intended to provide an additional mechanism to move federal funds efficiently.

The amendment does not list dollar amounts in the text presented to the council. "I guess, I'm just trying to get clarity. Total clarity because this has no numbers on it... I wanna know what the necessity is for us to do this and it says you're saying something about we just wanna move money. Well, what dollars are we talking about?" said Council member White, expressing concern about the lack of quantitative detail.

Billman said the amendment would not change the scopes of service in existing subrecipient agreements and that the funding lines described in those agreements remain in place. He explained, "This is merely another tool to efficiently move money from the federal line to bureau." He also said, "There are no specific dollars referenced here because the funding is already provided for any existing subrecipient agreements."

Council members asked whether the change was intended to protect federally funded programs from a pause or disruption. Billman and other counsel described the amendment as a measure to allow the city and the Urban Renewal Agency to manage existing subrecipient agreements more efficiently so the agency can continue delivering services already authorized by prior council and bureau approvals. Council member Norikowski said members should move carefully but also voiced support for continuing services: "...I'm just trying to get clarity on why we would do this, but I'm gonna trust that you all are making the right decision on our behalf, on the behalf of the residents... because I don't want my actions or actions not to continue to help the people who really need the services."

During the discussion members referenced federal programs that fund housing services, including HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS), and cited programs that support rental assistance, emergency shelter operations and related services. Councilors repeatedly requested clearer public documentation of which funding lines and program activities would be affected; council staff and counsel said those program details remain as previously approved in the underlying agreements.

The transcript shows a sequence of procedural motions: a motion to open discussion (seconded by Councilwoman Everhart), a motion to close discussion (seconded by Council member Rivera), and a motion "to approve" (seconded by Council member Golombek). The transcript does not record a roll-call tally or explicit verbal outcome for the approval motion.

Council members also noted the Bureau (Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency) planned to hold its own special session after the council's action to address related implementation steps. The amendment as described would change the mechanism for transferring federal drawdowns but, according to counsel, would not alter which programs are funded or the scopes of services authorized under existing agreements.

Ending: The council moved through the motions during the special meeting; the transcript includes the motions and seconders but does not record vote counts or a formal announced result for the approval motion. The amendment's text presented to the council contains no dollar figures; council members asked staff and counsel for clearer documentation of affected funding lines and program impacts before the Bureau's follow-up session.