Pittsburgh awaiting federal guidance on stimulus cash

There are many questions, but few definitive answers about exactly how much federal stimulus money the city of Pittsburgh will receive and how it can be spent.

City council members Wednesday asked council Budget Director Bill Urbanic and Kevin Pawlos, director of the city’s Office of Management and Budget, a litany of questions about the cash and the process the city will use to allocate it.

“I’m a little hesitant to say we can do this, that or the other thing,” Urbanic said.

He and Pawlos have been in meetings with officials from other cities and thus far the U.S. Treasury Department hasn’t released guidance about the allocations.

“That hasn’t been well-defined” yet, Urbanic said.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was signed into law March 11 by President Joe Biden. It will provide the city with about $354 million by 2022.

But the allocations of what each city will receive are being recalculated with updated census data and they could change, Urbanic said. He’s assuming the allocation will be lower. How much lower isn’t known, he said.

Half of the money will be distributed in mid-May and the other half in May 2022, Urbanic said. Therefore, the city will receive about $175 million this year and another $175 million in 2022 to use in its budget.

There will be restrictions on how the money can be spent. It can’t be used to shore up pension funds, Urbanic said, and other constraints will likely be coming from the Treasury Department.

Last week, councilmen Ricky Burgess and R. Daniel Lavelle introduced legislation to form a Pittsburgh Recovery Task Force to oversee distribution of the cash. The task force is also supported by Mayor Bill Peduto.

On Wednesday, council discussed changing the legislation to clarify the task force’s advisory role in the process.

Council and Peduto’s office will essentially be going through an abbreviated budget process once the money is received next month and the federal guidelines on the money are finalized.

The cash will be used to shore up the 2021 budget, which was passed anticipating some federal cash. Had the recovery act not been approved, the city would have had to cut 600 jobs to make up for a $24 million shortfall in the 2021 budget.

The city also spent about $120 million in reserve funds to maintain operations during the coronavirus pandemic.

City officials have said they plan to use the infusion of money to get the city’s finances back in line with a five-year financial plan drafted in 2019.

But there will be some money that can be used for other programs, Burgess said.

That’s where the task force will come into play as Burgess, Lavelle and other city leaders have said they’re committed to using some of the money to help the Black and minority neighborhoods that are in need of help.

It’s important the money is “allocated in an equitable fashion with public input,” Burgess said.

Other council members agreed.

“We’re really grateful for the infusion of funds,” Councilwoman Deb Gross said. “There are real needs out there in the community.”