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binghamton spending through DEC 2023

Thanks to President Biden's American Rescue Plan Act, Binghamton was awarded $46,184,674 in June 2021 to help with pandemic recovery needs, and the city has until December 31, 2026 to expend the funds. Below is a full accounting of the decisions made through December 2023, according to information provided by the City of Binghamton and ongoing monitoring of Binghamton City Council legislative activity. We reached out to Mayor Kraham and encouraged him to contact us if he wants to provide further clarification or a correction. Our goal is transparency, accountability, and accuracy. (Two years later, and he has not responded even once.) First, we share a simple summary of all ARPA allocations to date. We identify if the allocations were made by either former Mayor Rich David or current Mayor Jared Kraham based on when City Council approved the allocation. We then break down and describe the top nine (9) categories in more detail below.

#1. Lost revenue, general fund: $13,959,095

ARPA rules allow governments to use a portion of their award as reimbursement to cover unanticipated expenses or lost revenue due to the pandemic. The rules also state that any ARPA funds used for this purpose are NOT bound by the program's rules and can be spent in any manner imaginable. In other words, this gives local and state governments a legal way to "launder" ARPA funds. The more ARPA funds they can allocate to their general fund as "lost revenue," the more they can spend freely on any project they want, without any constraints. Binghamton has questionably decided to categorize almost 30% of the ARPA recovery award as "lost revenue." Eligible but questionable--and definitely frustrating. Why? Because before Mayor David fully understood how to exploit the loopholes and program rules, his Comptroller calculated and presented to City Council in June 2021 COVID's full impact to City finances. His estimate? About $3,500,000. But after Rich David hired an accounting firm that advised him of some "flexible" ways to compute lost revenue, David and his Comptroller came back to City Council in August 2021 asking for $12 million in ARPA funds to be categorized as lost revenue. It was a slush fund the outgoing mayor and aspiring state senator couldn't pass up. Watch this 90-second clip of the August 16 City Council meeting: Mayor David and his Comptroller happily explain how laundering works. The decision to launder almost four times more than the City's own calculations of how COVID impacted municipal finances was insulting and reckless. But it was downright irresponsible when you consider the City's general fund is the healthiest its been in decades, and according to the City's own annual reports, the general fund balance increased by end of year 2021. Read more about the City's strong finances here. Meanwhile, the City must still track and report to the U.S. Treasury how it's using ARPA funds swept into the general fund. Here's how Binghamton's "laundered" ARPA funds have been used, no longer bound by 'recovery' rules:
  • $7,000,000: Committed to help rebuild the Boscovs parking garage
  • $2,500,000: Committed (Dec 2023) for rehabilitation of 11 Court Street, which is the publicly-owned building at corner of Water Street that is leased to Boscovs retail store.
  • $2,000,000: Committed to the construction of the new fire station on Court Street
  • $530,000: Used to purchase new undercover police vehicles
  • $500,000: Established a grant program to help owners of commercial properties beautify their facades (Mayor Kraham's "poster child" for an owner in need of help is a developer planning a $13 million market-rate rental housing project at old Crowley dairy plant, read more here)
  • $453,000: Allocated to cover expenses in other City funds, like the golf fund or parking fund
  • $85,000: Used to pay firefighters premium pay for working during the pandemic
About $891,000 remains of the ARPA funds that Rich David, Jared Kraham, and their rubberstamping GOP City Council laundered through the general fund. While what's left is a drop in the bucket of the $46 million dollar allocation, the new Democratic City Council, with a supermajority, should be thoughtful about how to use these limited funds to meet outstanding recovery needs.

#2. Water and Sewer infrastructure: $10,800,000

According to program rules, ARPA funds can be used for three specific capital projects: water, sewer, and broadband. So these are eligible expenses, but these are also capital projects that the City has been funding for years and have nothing to do with ensuring an equitable recovery from COVID-19. In other words - and this is our opinion - City officials chose to use almost 25% of once-in-a-lifetime recovery funds to cover the annual, routine costs of maintaining and upgrading our city's water and sewer infrastructure.

#3. Affordable housing: $10,710,829

This may seem like a lot, but the details matter:
  • $3,000,000 was promised as a subsidy (December 2021) to the new corporate owners of the Town and Country apartments on the North Side of Binghamton if they could secure state grant funds (Low-Income Housing Tax Credits) to carry out comprehensive repairs to the buildings. Interesting to note, this amount would have been more than enough to support a bold, community-led proposal to convert this low-income rental property into a condiminium that would grant low-income tenants a chance at owning the units and building weath, but this proposal was ignored by City officials at the time. Mayor Kraham asked his rubberstamping City Council at the December 27, 2023 Council meeting for one last favor before they were replaced with an all-Democratic City Council: grant him the authority to enter into a contract with the new corporate owners, even though it's not clear that they have secured the other funding they promised to bring to the project.
  • $2,500,000 was approved in December 2023 (again, last meeting Mayor Kraham had his rubberstamping Council) for Greater Opportunities of Broome and Chenango to support the construction of two 6-unit rental properties on vacant lots on Munsell Street. All 12-units would be affordable, some of them deeply affordable or dedicated to special needs seniors.
  • $2,210,829 was approved in October 2023 to support the predevelopment costs of the $40 million mixed-income development project announced at 187 Clinton Street (Mayor Kraham's release).
  • $2,000,000 was committed to the Broome County Land Bank to acquire and rehab at least ten tax-foreclosed single-family properties into new affordable homeownership opportunities for Binghamton residents.
  • $613,000 in ARPA funds was immediately committed to help affordable housing projects already underway by First Ward Action Council and Opportunities for Broome.
  • $387,000 has been committed to something related to affordable housing, according to City's records, but it is not clear for what program, project, or purpose.

#4: bonus pay for essential workers: $2,313,372

Program rules expressly allow governments to retroactively pay essential workers bonus pay for their commitment to serve the public despite risks from COVID-19. It appears that all police, fire, and public works employees for the City of Binghamton received bonus pay under this eligible activity. In July 2023, the City also approved the use of $93,355 for "retention" incentives for all members of the Teamsters union (public works, parks, etc.).

#5: Public Safety: $2,071,475

ARPA funds can be used to address crime, particularly gun violence. However, it is odd that after a national dialogue about how police can't solve poverty, mental health, addiction, and homelessness---many drivers of crime--ARPA funds meant to help communities recover from a pandemic that caused poverty, mental stress, addiction, and homelessness will go to fund law enforcement activities and increased surveillance of and patrols in struggling neighborhoods. But here we are, and all of these ARPA commitments were made by Mayor Kraham:
  • $1,000,000 to fund a variety of crime prevention and law enforcement activities. According to the Mayor's own media release and the City's report to the U.S Treasury, these funds will go to pre-existing programs, such as bike patrols and neighborhood watch groups, and be used to purchase more license plate readers and cameras to surveill (and overpolice) high crime areas. It appears these funds will also cover staffing costs at the new Southern Tier Crime Analysis Center, which now occupies the old fire garage in City Hall. Why did we build a state-of-the-art Crime Analysis Center if it needs once-in-a-lifetime recovery funds to help pay for annual operating costs, like staff?
  • $804,0297 was requested by Mayor Kraham over two years to provide police officers a "retention incentive" because apparently the morale in the department remains low and vacancies continue to mount. During his presentation to City Council the first time in December 2022 (requesting $363,000), Mayor Kraham provided no details about how the incentive would work. It is not clear if the incentive is being paid to all officers evenly, whether it requires them to remain with the police department for part or most of the 2023 year, or whether the incentive will be “clawed back” if the officer leaves sooner. Mayor Kraham did explain to Council that his retention plan also includes allowing officers to grow beards and get tattoos (read more here). Beards and tattooes apparently weren't enough, so Mayor Kraham came back in August 2023 to ask for a second round of retention incentives (requesting $441,297).
  • $267,160 was used in the City's 2023 Budget to cover salary and benefits of three firefighters and, according to a note in the approved budget, "police grant share" (unclear what this means).

#6: Fix public buildings: $1,838,631

The upgrade and maintenance of public facilities and infrastructure is an ongoing responsibility that local governments should plan smartly for with a comprehensive, multi-year Capital Improvement Plan. That's why it's frustrating to see Binghamton leaders direct unprecedented recovery funds meant to help those most impacted by the pandemic to routine maintenance projects instead.
  • $1,180,000: To fund routine maintenance and repairs at the City's fire stations
  • $659,000: To fix the roof of the City Council Chambers, which was damaged back in 2013. The irony is that City officials said this was a priority because they wanted to make sure Binghamton residents had a chance to attend public meetings and be engaged as citizens. Yet these same City officials never held a single community forum about ARPA; never asked citizens for ideas or insights; refuse to create a simple website that informs citizens of how ARPA funds are being used; and harass, insult, and even arrest local housing advocates who seek to hold them accountable.

#7: Youth: $1,500,000

There's no question youth have been negatively impacted by the pandemic: whether from months of quarantines and lost social contact, or the disruption of education and dependence on remote learning. Former Mayor Rich David committed $29 million of recovery funds in six months before leaving office to run for state senator but not one penny ended up helping youth. Mayor Kraham has been better (though the bar was really low) with two commitments to youth:
  • Committed $1,000,000 to a Youth Recovery Fund, which according to Mayor Kraham will be managed by the Community Foundation and awards made through a competitive process.
  • Committed $500,000 to the YWCA's $24 million project by Columbus Park that involves the former Urban League building and adjacent properties. The project will result in affordable housing and a child care facility.

#8: ADMIN / IT: $715,500

Former Mayor Rich David allocated $20,000 to pay for the accounting firm that helped him understand how he can legally "launder" more recovery funds through the general fund so he could use it however he wished. Mayor Kraham committed $695,500 of ARPA funds to cover IT upgrades at City Hall. Are you noticing a pattern as you read through this list of uninspiring decisions? Unprecedented pandemic recovery funds are being used to cover routine operating costs or move forward overdue capital projects. See #9 for more of the same.

#9: CODE / DEMOLITION: $698,770

Kraham has made a couple more decisions under this category that involve using ARPA funds to pay for expenses that the City has typically covered year in and year out:
  • $448,770 to fund staff related to enforcing housing and building codes: one attorney, one inspector, and parks laborers who mow lawns when private owners refuse to respond to code violations. If Mayor Kraham wants to "be tough on slumlords," then he should fund it with local tax dollars--not pandemic recovery funds. Even worse, while the intentions might be admirable, this is a seriously misguided approach--largely because it doesn't work. See why, here.
  • $250,000 committed for demolitions, which seems odd. Every year for decades, the City has used its annual Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department to fund demolition. New York also put a whopping $300 million of new spending in the 2022/2023 budget for communities who want to address vacant and blighted buildings ($250 M for Restore NY, and another $50 M for land banks). Why spend once-in-a-lifetime recovery funds to demolish blighted properties when multiple funding sources are available to carry out this activity?
A civic project by local housing justice and good government advocates.