Albany council rejects vetoes
Members say actions will give them more clout over federal funds
The Common Council unanimously approved two veto overrides Monday night that are designed to give them more control over the city’s federal rescue funds.
Council members believe the overrides, combined with two pieces of legislation passed at the meeting, will allow them to oversee future spending decisions for the remainder of the $80.7 million the city received under the American Rescue Plan.
Council member Jahmel Robinson said it was one topic he was most often asked about by residents.
“Which tells me, our community and people of this city want strong oversight,” he said. “They want transparency.”
Sheehan declined to comment when reached Monday, saying she had not had a chance to talk about the vetoes with her staff. The city has previously noted that the council has input on the use of the money and has been invited to be part of the process when it comes to using the money for community investments.
The council inserted language into a November budget ordinance that gave themselves final approval over any future spending of rescue funds and reduced the amount of funding the city could set aside to replace revenue lost during the pandemic.
Members said Sheehan’s administration requested the council leave one of the vetoes. That veto took out a piece of the ordinance that reduced the amount of revenue replacement funds from $16 million to $8 million. By letting that veto stand, the city will not use any of its rescue funding for 2020 revenue replacement.
But Finance Chair Ginnie Farrell said Tuesday the conversation isn’t over.
“The council fully expects to take up revenue replacement for 2020 in the future,” she said. “Now that the appropriate safeguards are in place, it gives the council that much more confidence in addressing that issue.”
In her veto message, Sheehan warned of dire consequences if the council overrode her vetoes, include cuts and layoffs.
Several council members took issue with that, noting the money was intended to replace revenue lost in 2020 and that the city’s 2022 budget was fully funded. That budget includes $7 million in rescue funding. The city also spent several million in rescue funds as premium pay for union workers.
Sheehan had proposed using $16 million for revenue replacement funds, the maximum allowed under a federal formula that guides the use of the stimulus funds provided by the federal government.
The city is not allowed to directly place any ARP funding in its fund balance, under federal rules. However, if the city ends a fiscal year with a surplus, that money could be added to the fund balance.
The city did rely heavily on its existing fund balance and other city funds to stave off cuts and has sought to boost that account, which was roughly $10 million as of Dec. 31, 2020.
The city is facing a number of
union contracts it will need to settle in the next year, including a contract with its police officers union, which expired at the end of 2013.
The two pieces of legislation, sponsored by Council member Richard Conti, made small but significant changes to bolster the council’s oversight. The first law clarified the definition of budgeted funds.
The clarification recognizes that when the city accepts funds after the budget is adopted, they become part of the city’s budget, which means the council should authorize their use, Conti wrote in his justification for the legislation.
“There needs to be some oversight of those funds … that’s what this local law would do,” he said Monday.
The mayor’s office previously asserted that because the rescue funds were not part of the budget, the council did not have direct oversight over their use. The mayor’s office, in a compromise with the council, did set up a seven-member board that included council leadership to sign off on any grants to community groups from the $25 million pot Sheehan set aside earlier this year.
The second law changed the composition of the city’s Board of Estimate and Apportionment by removing the city’s corporation counsel from the board and installing the council’s president pro tempore.
The Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which accepts funds the city receives during the year that aren’t included in the budget and approves budget transfers, does not have a council representative. It does include the council president, along with the other two citywide representatives, the chief city auditor and treasurer.
Several members hinted that they thought Sheehan would pocket-veto the legislation. Her chief of staff did not return a request for comment.
The council also approved a local law granting city workers additional sick time. It was not clear if the council had the authority to do that.
Councilman Owusu Anane introduced the measure several months ago in response to the pandemic. Monday night he noted that with the omicron variant, it was even more important to ensure city workers had adequate sick time to use to care for themselves or family members.
The council also unanimously approved revisions to the city’s zoning code. The changes were made as part of a review required under city law. Most of the changes were technical in nature, making the zoning rules clearer and cleaning up inconsistencies.