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Council committee advances $8.64 million in supplemental allocations; $125,000 approved for youth-violence microgrants after amendment
Summary
The Finance Committee recommended an $8,644,566 supplemental appropriation that funds neighborhood playgrounds, sidewalk/street work, neighborhood LED lighting and alley repairs, and approved using $125,000 of ARPA interest for a pilot youth-violence microgrant program after an amendment reduced the initial $250,000 proposal.
The Fort Wayne Common Council’s Finance Committee on Aug. 26 recommended passage of a supplemental appropriations ordinance totaling $8,644,566, allocating local income tax and public-safety local income tax receipts to parks, sidewalks, neighborhood lighting and the HEART team/victim assistance program.
Valerie Yarb, Deputy Controller, told the committee the supplemental local income tax distribution totaled $12,591,206 and summarized the proposed allocations: $2,200,000 in the general fund to complete the 2024 street-and-sidewalk plan; $5,259,000 from economic-development local income tax for playgrounds (Krieger, Shoaff, Bloomingdale, Ronald G. Repka Memorial, Lafayette and Hannah Homestead); $435,000 for connected neighborhoods; $500,000 for LED lighting; $1,524,000 for additional neighborhood lighting in specified neighborhoods (Louis, Harmon, Anthony, Monroe, Coombs, Wayne, Columbia, Burgess and Francis); $100,000 for Hannah Trail; $840,000 for work on eight alleys (locations not specified in committee); and $1,185,656 from the public-safety local income tax for the HEART team and victims assistance.
The committee also considered a proposal to allocate ARPA interest earnings to a youth-violence prevention pilot. Deputy Controller Yarb said interest on the city’s ARPA balance generated roughly $3 million in earnings; the administration proposed awarding microgrants through a rolling portal administered by the mayor’s young-adult commission and reviewed by city staff. Andy Downs, director of intergovernmental affairs, described the program as a pilot for microgrants up to $10,000 each, with the intent to pay half up front and the remainder after performance reporting. Downs said staff were designing a flexible rubric and reporting process because award sizes and delivery mechanisms will vary across applicants.
Councilman Bender moved — and the council approved in committee — an amendment to reduce the ARPA interest allocation from $250,000 to $125,000 and requested the administration return with an update before approving the remainder. The amendment passed 5-2. The amended ARPA allocation and the supplemental-appropriation ordinance both received a committee do-pass recommendation and were placed on the council passage calendar; the full council later passed the measures as amended.
Deputy Mayor Karl Band (deputy mayor) said the administration had briefed council members individually about the supplemental plan and that the ARPA pilot was intended to move quickly once the portal opens. Council members praised the focus on neighborhood infrastructure and on preserving funding for public-safety partnership programs.
