The City of Williamsport has budgeted $5.35 million of $25.4 million in American Rescue Plan funds toward economic development.

The biggest bulk of the budgeted money is $2.7 million for the Redevelopment Authority, $2 million for the Land Bank Authority and $650,000 in combined future projects, reserved funds and contingency funds.

The budget is only a framework and not final approval.

Meanwhile, August “Skip” Memmi, executive director of the city Department of Community and Economic Development, said it will be dependent upon the will of Mayor Derek Slaughter, his administration and City Council to determine how best to spend the funds.

UHY Advisors was recently hired to oversee compliance and oversight of ARPA funds and spending. The city has until the end of 2024 to allocate projects and 2026 in which to spend them.

Memmi said it will be the decision of the administration and council but the redevelopment and land bank investment is a means to take blighted properties – including residential, commercial and industrial – and get them either acquired or into the hands of certified developers to repurpose and put back into business and into the tax rolls.

Council President Adam Yoder recently said that the use of ARPA for the land bank and redevelopment of properties will return dividends and help to narrow the gap with revenue from investments that counters deficit spending the city has seen each year at the fall budget season.

Memmi also noted how the land bank, if and when it is funded, will be able to provide the capital needed to be transformative in future of the Park Avenue neighborhood redevelopment plan and of residential, commercial and industrial properties across the city.

Funding the redevelopment and land bank authorities might be used as the city looks for a strategic plan with partners on Park Avenue, along Maynard Street corridor and Wisteria Land housing developers.

The city wants to create an atmosphere where people want to visit, shop and spend money. It wants to reinvest in neighborhoods to create better living environments and space for new housing stock or repurposing existing housing, he said.

These were funds that were distributed by the U.S. Treasury to cities and communities that were impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those effects are lingering and it is the intent to spend the funds wisely on projects that otherwise would never be able to get done.

The budget recommendation of $800,000 for two ballfields in Brandon Park, for example, is anticipated to pay huge dividends to the city economy as the teams will be brought back to play Little League games in 2023.

The spending for long-term solutions to flood-mitigation of Grafius Run, with engineers designing ponds and underground retention areas to lessen the volume in the stream during high water and reduce the risk of flooding holds enormous potential.

Not only does it reduce the risk for the residents who have endured the floods for years, it provides incentive to brokerage firms trying to sell and buy homes. It says that part of Williamsport is safe from floods and prime real estate to consider moving to and raising a family.

Really, all of the funding – whether it goes to public works and the levee and Grafius Run, Brandon Park baseball fields, police radios, surveillance cameras and body cameras, street lighting and that which is put into a reserve account are tied into economic development, Memmi said.