Jamestown City Council work session (January 9, 2023)
Jamestown City Council members are having some confusion over how much funding was approved for the Senior Citizen Housing Improvement Incentive Program versus the actual need.
Housing Committee Chair Marie Carrubba said that it was reported by City Assessor Lisa Volpe that 302 applications were approved for a total of $1.878 million, but the program was only allocated $1.5 million.
While the Assessor’s Office built in a $40,000 cushion to the program, Carrubba said projects were coming in under budget which means any funds leftover could be used toward applications that couldn’t be funded the first time around.
Council member at Large Jeff Russell said he thought there was enough funding for the program to take care of all approved applications and asked where the mistake was made, “We sat in this room on tape and we were told that if this was approved that the program would be fully funded. So now we’re going back and we’re telling citizens and senior citizens that, ‘Oh, sorry, we were wrong on our numbers.’ So I guess I’m asking, where were we wrong and who was wrong on these numbers?”
Council initially approved the Senior Citizen Home Improvement Incentive program with $500,000 of American Rescue Plan funds in June 2022 with an additional $500,000 in ARP funds approved in October. Council then approved two resolutions totaling $500,000 in ARP monies at it November voting session.
Mayor Eddie Sundquist said city administration had proposed moving $500,000 from the Home Improvement Incentive Program that also was created in June 2022. The latter would have effectively de-funded that program. Council opted not to go that route.
Finance Chair Kim Ecklund expressed concern that Council had been told all applications that met the criteria of the program could be funded if Council approved an additional $1 million to the original funding, “In my email from Lisa (Volpe), it states there are still 63 projects left unfunded. And so, even though you’re telling them it’s $300,000, 63 projects is not $300,000, so I have a whole conglomerate of numbers that don’t make sense.”
Sundquist said he would meet with Volpe and get back to Council by this past Wednesday, but as of press time, Council members were still waiting for that update.
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