City Commission Approves Spending Plan for American Rescue Plan Funds

Published on September 16, 2021

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The Miami City Commission this week approved a spending plan for $137 million in federal funds that the City received as part of the American Rescue Plan, which was approved by Congress to help the U.S. recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19. Commissioners unanimously approved the plan on Monday evening during the first of two public hearings to finalize the City’s annual budget. Under the approved plan, nearly $24 million will be invested in various social programs, with the remaining $114 million being invested in a wide range of City capital projects.

 Among the existing City programs that will receive additional funding via the American Rescue Plan are job training initiatives, housing assistance, childcare programming and meals for elderly residents. The lion’s share of the funding will be invested in – and help mitigate the cost of – new and ongoing capital projects across the city. Among them are the following: major parks improvements and upgrades; land purchases for the construction of affordable housing, installation of pumps to mitigate local flooding and other upgrades to roadway drainage.

Another portion of the funds will be used to support existing City homeless assistance programs and to pay for cultural programming. The federal dollars will also bolster ongoing efforts to grow Miami’s burgeoning tech sector.

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