Panel delving into funding

County forms committee to steer process for rest of Rescue Plan money

Albany County officials have formed an executive committee to steer the process of how the county will spend the second half of its American Rescue Plan funds.

The committee includes County Executive Dan Mccoy’s office, Comptroller Susan Rizzo, as well as the leadership of the County Legislature and the commissioner of management and budget.

The legislature approved a $180,000 consulting contract with Capital Market Advisors on Monday to assist its efforts. Mccoy said the county has been watching what other local governments have done to try to determine best practices.

The first $29 million of the county’s federal rescue funds was used to stabilize the county’s finances. The expectation is that the second $29 million will be used on projects across four main areas — public health, infrastructure, economic development and community development.

County leaders said this week that each of the four areas will have its own committee made up of legislators and members of the public. The executive committee has not yet established specific spending amounts for each of the four focus areas.

Rizzo told the County Legislature the second payment is expected this summer and that any eventual spending plan would be presented to the legislature. The first awards are expected toward the end of 2022.

Legislature Chairman Andrew Joyce said the next steps are to solicit public participation and input in those committees. The county wants to move deliberately when it

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comes to spending the funds to maximize their impact, he said.

Joyce said the county may form a separate subcommittee focused on encouraging public outreach.

The county’s process has been significantly slower than in the city of Albany, which is

expected to announce in the next few weeks which applicants will receive portions of the $25 million it set aside for community projects. The city has also set aside some of the money it received to make up for revenue loss from the pandemic.

Under federal rules the funds must be earmarked for use by the end 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.