Harrisburg spends American Rescue Plan money on affordable housing, home repairs, overdue trash bills and more

Harrisburg City Council voted to spend $18.8 million from the American Rescue Plan to help the city residents.

The Harrisburg City Council voted last Tuesday to spend $18.8 million in federal funds from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan on affordable housing, home repairs and blighted property demolition, according to The Burg.

Harrisburg received $47 million from the ARP and in 2022, the city spent $15.6 million to reimburse the city for loss revenue during the pandemic and on bonuses for police officers and firefighters. Then, last July, Harrisburg City Council voted to put the remaining $31.4 million into the city’s general fund designated for certain projects.

The council, last Tuesday, moved $18.8 million of that $31.4 million into the city’s 2024 budget, and allocated it for projects and programs that’ll help the city’s low-income and elderly residents. The funding includes:

• $8 million for an affordable housing program
• $5 million for home repairs for low-income residents
• $2 million to help residents pay for overdue trash bills
• $1.5 million to help demolish blighted buildings
• $1 million to help nonprofits with bridge housing programs
• $500,000 for tree removal and pruning services for low-income and elderly residents
• $25,000 for local senior programs

Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams called the funding “historic” and “life altering” for Harrisburg and its residents when city council originally moved the funding into the general fund last July.