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Houston’s $607 million share of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is expected to help stave off an anticipated budget shortfall that had been attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city’s $5.1 billion budget includes approximately $228 million more in spending than last year, according to coverage by Houston Public Media. That is in addition to any revenue losses the city may see due to the economic crisis created by the response to the pandemic.
“With the receipt of #ARPA funds, the city will be avoiding what would have been a disastrous budget cycle due to the impact of the pandemic compounding our structural budget issues,” Chris Brown, Houston city controller, said in a tweet.
Yet, Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city can’t count on just using that extra money from the federal government to shore up the coming year, Public Media reported. Turner said the funding will need to be spread out over at least the next three years to meet anticipated shortfalls in the coming years.
“This is not just one and done,” Turner was quoted as saying by Public Media. “We'll continue to have to be mindful for next year, and the year after next, because we will still be impacted by the coronavirus and there will still be impacts on our sales tax.”
Part of the added costs in coming years comes with the city taking care of first responders, according to coverage by ABC 13. Pay raises for firefighters are expected to cost the city approximately $115.3 million over the coming three years.
It will be the first pay increase the city’s firefighters have seen since 2014, ABC 13 reported. The city had recently lost an effort in court to have the collective bargaining rights of those firefighters declared unconstitutional.
Following the win for firefighters in court, the city is set to increase pay by 6% each year over the coming three years.