Memphis City Council members approved a mix of district projects and citywide initiatives Tuesday, Oct. 19, in a $20 million budget for their allocation of the city’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.

The plan, put together by council members Chase Carlisle and Edmund Ford Sr., includes $3 million each for incentives for a North Memphis supermarket or grocery store, a satellite homeless facility in Raleigh operated by the nonprofit Hospitality Hub and an affordable housing grant and loan program.

Redistricting hits snag as City Council debate continues

The slate also includes $1.4 million toward better solid waste collection as well.

The solid waste funding would go toward training more drivers, a swing shift mechanic to keep trucks running and outfitting trucks with cameras to see what is being missed on garbage routes.

Council member Worth Morgan originally proposed $3 million in ARPA funding for the changes in a solid waste program that has had persistent problems since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been the subject of an overhaul of trash pickup services by the administration of Mayor Jim Strickland.

City Council Scorecard: Test vote on EDGE incentives

Most of the early proposals for the council’s share of ARPA funding took a cut in their dollar figures in the compromise worked out by Carlisle and Ford.

Carlisle originally favored only larger citywide initiatives for the funding while Ford favored some kind of division of the money with the same amount for each council member.

“Some funds we kind of cut to a certain amount. Everybody, I think, can live with this,” Ford said. “Down the road, later on, if we need other funding, I think we’ll be able to come back to the table.”

“The ARPA funding could be put to a good use in a million different ways,” Carlisle said. “Targeted funding is the best way.”

County Commission approves most federal COVID aid use

The city administration will vet the specific recipients of the funding outside city government. Still to come are detailed contracts that will go to the council later for approval.

The arrangement is similar to the county’s ARPA budget approved Monday by the Shelby County Commission as a general plan for using the funding. It puts the money in what County Mayor Lee Harris referred to as “buckets,” or goals, for specific dollar figures. Approval of details and contracts are also to come later on the county side.

City government’s low vaccination rate spotlights larger solid waste issues

The County Commission delayed action on several of the line items in the $68 million package to the first meeting in November.

The city’s overall ARPA funding is $161 million while the county is getting $180 million in the federal funding.

The funding is being used directly to make up for revenues each government lost in the pandemic. That, in turn, frees up other revenue to be used on projects that still have to be related to the effects of the pandemic and which require reports to federal officials on how the funding is used.