BLOOMFIELD — The debate over the best use of $1.6 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds has continued in town with an online survey the latest attempt to gather community input on how the money should be spent.
Bloomfield hired a consultant to help decide how to allocate the funds, but after a low response rate on the initial survey, the Town Council appointed a task force to provide recommendations to town leaders after soliciting feedback from the community and municipal employees through public forums or other surveys.
The latest round of surveys are now open to residents. Mayor Danielle Wong encouraged residents to take the survey either online, by phone, mail or by submitting a response in the dropbox at any town building.
“As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, this survey will provide critical input from the community as we move to determine how to spend the remainder of the ARPA funding for the betterment of the community,” Wong said.
The town considered using the funds for the construction of the new library, but the effort was derailed after some council members found alternative funding routes.
The consultant already helped the town conduct four weekly surveys last summer, but after a low response rate, some town council members feared the results were not a fair reflection of the community’s opinion. The task force, which includes members of the public, was created to supplement the surveys.
The survey for the week of May 20 received just 115 responses in a town that has a population of about 21,000. The participation improved slightly for the survey ending June 14, with 305 responses.
The survey responses showed vague approval for just about every item listed in the survey as a possible outlet for the funds. The options included provision of government services, negative economic impacts, public health response, premium pay to essential workers, broadband infrastructure and water/sewer infrastructure.
Residents were asked to rank the categories from 1 to 10 on how likely they’d be to support the use of funds for any given category. All of the categories had between a 70 percent and 80 percent approval rating in the June 14 survey.
The new survey has more specific questions, which ask residents to rank specifically how much they prioritize certain categories such as business support and development, public infrastructure improvements and housing services and assistance.
Bloomfield has until the end of 2024 to formally designate funds for specific projects and by the end of 2026 to spend the money. Any remaining money will be returned to the treasury.
On average, municipalities and counties across the country have budgeted about 42 percent of ARPA funds for government operations, according to the Brookings Institute. Public health has accounted for nearly 14 percent and infrastructure accounted for about 12 percent.
“We exemplify and instill diversity, equity and inclusion as essential parts of internal and external policymaking,” Wong said. “That is at the forefront of this project.”
emily.disalvo@hearstmediact.com
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