Wauwatosa is getting $24 million in federal pandemic relief funds. Now, they'll have to decide how to spend it

Wauwatosa is receiving $24 million in federal pandemic relief funds, but more questions than answers remain over how the city will use the money. 

City officials still have until the end of 2024 to spend the $24.6 million — half of which the city has already received. 

It's not clear yet what the funds — provided through the American Rescue Plan Act — will be used for, but there are some general guidelines from the federal government. 

Some eligible uses include supporting the public health response to the pandemic, replacing public sector revenues lost from the pandemic, investing in water and sewer infrastructure, addressing negative economic impacts from the pandemic, financial support for essential workers and investing in broadband infrastructure. 

The city is using the consulting firm Raftelis to help with deciding where to allocate the funds. The process will soon include opportunities for public input. 

Mark Olson, a senior manager for Raftelis, said the primary purpose of the funds is to get the economy going. During a September committee of the whole meeting, Olson told the common council he understands that officials might want to invest or save the money. 

"Their (federal government) primary interest here is getting resources out to the communities across the country as fast as possible, to have impact, and get the economy moving, getting business moving, getting employment going," Olson said.

In total, local governments in Wisconsin are set to receive about $2.3 billion from the act. Wauwatosa received the sixth highest amount of any municipality in the state. 

And $24 million represents about a third of the city's annual budget. according to John Ruggini, Wauwatosa's finance director. Ruggini said about 2% of the funds have already been allocated. Those funds were mainly used to retain Raftelis. 

But the city will first seek public input before it decides what to do with the remainder of the money. The next three months will include opportunities for the public to provide input.

Raftelis said focus groups, community input meetings and an online survey will give officials opportunities to hear from city residents.

"I think the public has very good ideas of what they think the city needs, and they're not just wants, but they are needs of the public," said Wauwatosa Ald. Ernst Franzen. 

Even so, Ruggini reminded the council that the funding has some parameters. 

"There's going to be some great ideas that the community comes up with that has nothing to do with COVID, and we're just going to have to be honest with them through the process that this a great idea, but we can't demonstrate that is related to an impact caused by COVID," Ruggini said. 

Council members also expressed several needs the resources could be used for, including help for small businesses, mental health resources, funding for affordable housing and funding and help for underserved populations in the city, including seniors or those with disabilities.

But any concrete decisions on how to allocate the funds are likely months down the road, even though the city first received funds months ago. 

Ald. Jason Kofroth discussed the need for the money to be used to positively impact future generations. 

"I'm looking at making an impact so that when we're talking about water infrastructure, or sewer infrastructure, or other types of infrastructure, those are things that last for generations. Those are going to last longer than any of us in this room," Kofroth said. 

The state Department of Revenue distributed $203 million — the first half of funding — to 1,780 municipalities on June 25. The second half of funding will go out in 2022.

The city of Milwaukee has been allocated $394 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. City officials there are using the funds to address pressing issues in the city, including reckless driving, eviction prevention and support for the city's struggling ambulance system. 

Evan Casey can be reached at 414-403-4391 or evan.casey@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ecaseymedia.