Bangor has until Dec. 31, 2024, to spend the remaining $3.8 million in federal pandemic relief funding it received more than two years ago, but what exactly the money could be used for remains unclear.
Councilors agreed earlier this month to devote the remaining funds to improving the city’s ongoing housing crunch and potentially installing public bathrooms, according to Debbie Laurie, Bangor city manager.
The council also plans to meet with the Penobscot County commissioners to discuss how the city and county can partner to use the last of the funding, Laurie said.
For months this summer, Bangor city councilors slowly gave away just more than $17 million to dozens of local organizations aimed at addressing some of the city’s most pressing issues such as rising homelessness, rampant substance use disorder and a lack of child care. After sitting on the $20-plus million lump sum from the federal government for about two years, councilors now have until Dec. 31, 2024, to allocate the remaining $3,811,651.
Councilors previously considered using the leftover money for city or school projects, like creating public art or improving sidewalks and bike lanes, but have since narrowed the possibilities down to a few pressing needs.
Using the money to improve and expand housing would align with the council’s goal of making 2024 “the year of housing,” which it declared earlier this week. Bangor, like other cities throughout the state and nation, continues to grapple with continuously rising rent and purchase costs, a lack of available units and an aging housing stock.
The city has also lacked enough public bathrooms in recent years, which affects everyone from first-time visitors to homeless people. Having bathrooms in only a few public buildings downtown, which close at night, also taxes local businesses, as people often ask to use their facilities.
The city initially received more than $20 million after Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. After waffling over what to do with the one-time award for nearly two years, councilors allowed local organizations to submit applications for a chunk of the money.
Those applications were reviewed and scored by a volunteer panel orchestrated by the Heart of Maine United Way. The city council then spent the summer of 2023 combing through and making decisions on each application.
To date, the council has approved awards to 31 local organizations ranging in value from $50,000 to nearly $2.5 million. The awards also fall into eight categories — child care, homelessness, housing, mental health, substance use disorder, workforce development, government services and other.
Of those categories, housing received the most funding at $4.3 million, followed by child care and homelessness, which totaled $3.8 million and $3.1 million, respectively.