The Gary Common Council on Tuesday approved using American Rescue Plan Act funds to assist the city’s public transportation system.
In a 7-0 vote, the council unanimously passed two ordinances related to the ARPA funds. Councilwoman Mary Brown, D-3rd, was absent.
Former Councilman Mark Spencer, D-At large, resigned from the Gary Common Council on Nov. 6, said Lake County Democratic Chairman Jim Wieser. Spencer was elected as Indiana State Senator for District 3, and the county’s Democratic party will hold a caucus to fill his role.
The council approved allocating $750,000 in ARPA funds for the Gary Public Transportation Corporation. The funds come from the revenue loss category, according to the ordinance.
When it became law in March 2021, ARPA provided about $350 billion in additional funding to state and local governments, according to the Government Finance Officers Association. Eligible uses of funds include revenue replacement, COVID-19 expenditures, premium pay for essential workers, and investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
ARPA funds can’t be used to directly or indirectly offset tax reductions and can’t be deposited into a pension fund. Funds must be obligated by the end of 2024 and used by the end of 2026.
Funds for the Gary Public Transportation Corporation will be used to buy new buses and related equipment, said City Controller Celita Green.
“The funding from ARPA will be used as matching funds to federal funds for transportation,” Green told the council. “Then we’ll use that funding to purchase buses.”
The ordinance originally asked for $700,000 in ARPA funds, but Green said the number was incorrect. The council unanimously approved an amendment adding $50,000 in funding.
The Gary Common Council on Oct. 1 approved the public transportation corporation’s 2025 budget, which is $15,327,703. About $2.8 million of the budget will go toward machinery and equipment, and more than $1 million will go toward supplies.
At its biweekly meeting, the Gary council also withdrew two other ordinances related to ARPA funds. Mayor Eddie Melton’s administration asked for the withdrawal, said Council President Tai Adkins, D-4th.
The ordinances asked for ARPA funds to be used for medical debt buy-down assistance, according to online documents. The program, which would have cost $1.3 million, aimed to assist people who have large amounts of medical debt.
The council unanimously withdrew the ordinances.
Two other ordinances related to ARPA spending plans were postponed at the council’s Tuesday meeting. If approved, the funds, from the public health and negative economic impacts category, would allocate about $1 million toward building a new animal shelter in the city.
The ordinances were sent back to the council’s Ways and Means committee. Council members might vote on the ARPA funds for the animal shelter at its Dec. 3 meeting.
Council members will also vote on other ARPA funds at upcoming meetings. If approved, funds will be used in various ways, including for demolition of blighted properties, renovation of the health department facility, and public infrastructure projects.
“Most of these are in the ninth or tenth hour for ARPA,” Adkins said Tuesday. “We might have a series of committee meetings to get through these in support of the administration.”
