The legislative haggling over Cleveland’s nearly $512 million American Rescue Plan Act windfall – while not over – is coming to an end. 

Now City Hall has to get the federal stimulus money out the door.

So far, Cleveland has spent more than $163 million of its ARPA allocation, according to Mayor Justin Bibb’s office. 

Of that, $108.9 million went to shore up the budget as the city emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration. Another $54.9 million went to ARPA programs and purchases approved by City Council. 

While not a dollar-by-dollar accounting of Cleveland’s ARPA spending, here are some highlights from the city’s federal stimulus projects. The figures come from ARPA-tracking spreadsheets prepared by City Council and the city’s finance department.

ARPA money for homes, demolitions and lead paint safety

Roughly $1 out of every $5 in Cleveland ARPA money is slated for a program related to housing.

Among the larger housing items in line for Cleveland ARPA money: 

• $30 million helping to finance new housing projects
• $17 million to make homes safe from lead paint
• $15 million to demolish vacant and abandoned properties
• $10 million for home repairs 
• $5 million for home rehabilitation in Southeast Side neighborhoods

City Council also set aside $5 million for Habitat for Humanity and $4.9 million for redeveloping the Woodhill Homes public housing apartments. 

Economic development

One of Cleveland’s biggest single ARPA expenses is the $50 million site readiness fund. The city is using that pool of money to prepare large industrial sites for reuse. 

The city is spending another $10 million to help workers get ready for jobs in construction, brownfield remediation, transit, broadband and other fields.  

Other larger items: $10 million for development on the Southeast Side and $20 million to expand broadband coverage.

Dollars for public safety and quelling violence

In Mayor Frank Jackson’s final year in office, the city directed $26 million in ARPA money to buy equipment for police, fire and EMS. The public safety wish list included ambulances, helicopter upgrades, cars and trucks, fire station exhaust system improvements and more. 

The city also used about $63 million from its initial ARPA allocation on police pay and benefits, the Marshall Project reported.

Under the Bibb administration, the mayor and council have dedicated $10 million for a violence prevention grant fund, $5.1 million to expand a mental health co-response pilot, almost $2.8 million for ShotSpotter technology and other items. 

City Council projects

Cleveland set aside $37.1 million for projects directed by City Council members. Included on council’s list:

• $7.3 million to Cleveland Neighborhood Progress to repair homes and commercial properties
• $1.9 million to forgive medical debt
• $1.5 million to redevelop a warehouse in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood into the CentroVilla25 market
• $1 million for Birthing Beautiful Communities, a nonprofit that helps expecting parents
• $1 million to redevelop the Warner and Swasey building on Carnegie Avenue

By the administration’s count, council has $10.1 million left to allocate. 

Fallen by the wayside

Several Bibb ideas did not reach the finish line. Among them were a few education proposals:

Council tabled a $730,625 contract with Possip, a Tennessee-based education technology platform, to gather opinions from the families of Cleveland students. 

Also tabled was a $3 million literacy plan that would have used Amira, an artificial intelligence-assisted online tutoring system, and the Zoom-based platform Ignite Reading. 

Council also laid aside $984,500 for the Cleveland Transformation Alliance and $5.4 million to create “educator innovation groups” in the schools and to hire a learning innovation strategist. 

What’s next?

U.S. Treasury Department rules say ARPA money must be allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026. 

But officially, the city has already spent most of the money as far as the Treasury Department is concerned. That’s because Cleveland was able to count nearly $465 million in ARPA money as “revenue recovery” dollars – making up for income lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That accounting maneuver aside, the city still plans to spend most of that money on the projects that have gone through council. That means there is plenty of ARPA work left to do in 2024, as Cleveland signs contracts and writes checks.