Aldermen to take closer look at how to spend city's federal recovery money

May 11—Frederick's aldermen are deciding whether to cap how much money the city gives to nonprofits from federal recovery funds.

The city has $10.6 million in funds available from the American Rescue Plan Act and the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to disburse.

At the mayor and aldermen's final budget meeting Tuesday night before a scheduled vote next week, Alderman Derek Shackelford proposed that the city create a process for nonprofit organizations to apply for funds and whether to put a limit on how much organizations can receive through the federal recovery funds.

Shackelford suggested a cap of $100,000, but said he would accept a limit of $250,000, to help spread the money to more organizations.

Much of Tuesday's discussion centered around two proposed allocations for ARPA money contained in Mayor Michael O'Connor's proposed fiscal 2023 budget.

One is a $500,000 grant to the Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc. to help purchase a building for a new home and a $300,000 proposal to help the Frederick Arts Council purchase the Sky Stage facility it currently leases on South Carroll Street.

Both organizations have had long-running relationships with the city, O'Connor said.

A $250,000 grant would leave FITCI without enough laboratory space in the building it's looking to purchase, Ted Gregory, FITCI's chairman, told the mayor and aldermen.

The organization has helped create a vibrant, resilient business community by helping nurture life sciences companies, he said.

The Arts Council is trying to get some security for the Sky Stage facility, Executive Director Louise Kennelly said.

The facility provides a diverse mix of programming, she said.

When the city puts money into the arts, it gets a larger community benefit, she said.

O'Connor proposed his budget with a $127 million general fund for the 2023 fiscal year — which begins July 1 — in late March.

Additional funds for water and sewer, stormwater, parking, the Weinberg Center for the Arts, Frederick Municipal Airport, Clustered Spires golf course and reserves bring the total proposed budget to $197.3 million.

The proposal would keep the city's current municipal property tax rate at 73 cents per $100 of assessed value.

O'Connor can make changes to his proposal until Saturday. The aldermen are expected to vote on the budget proposal on May 19.

The budget includes a new compensation scale that would increase the minimum wage for full-time city employees to $20 an hour.

It would also add 31 positions to the city's staff, including in the code enforcement, permits and inspections, and parks departments.

The aldermen don't have to figure out how to manage the disbursement of the ARPA funding Tuesday night, Shackelford said.

And there's no requirement that they have to spend all of the money in this budget, Budget Director Katie Barkdoll said.

The city has several years to figure out how to spend it, she said.

Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP