Baltimore panel reviews ARPA spending: $473.4M spent, some agencies behind schedule

The Baltimore City Council Budget and Appropriations Committee heard a quarterly oversight presentation from the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs on federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, during which staff reported that all ARPA awards to the city have been obligated and $473,400,000 had been expended as of June 30, 2025.

Shamaya Kearney, deputy city administrator and acting chief recovery officer, told the committee that "all $641,170,126 awarded to Baltimore City has been obligated" and that the office is focused on meeting the statutory expenditure deadline of 12/31/2026. Kearney said the city increased expenditures by $38,500,000 since the prior quarter and submitted the required annual report to the U.S. Department of the Treasury on July 31, 2025.

Why this matters: the city must both obligate and spend ARPA funds within federal deadlines to avoid relinquishing them, and the committee used the hearing to examine which agencies and grant recipients are on track and which require follow-up.

Kearney said 65 of 126 grants directly awarded by the recovery office to city…