LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As Anthony Piagentini, R-19, can attest, while Louisville's needs are great, its resources are sometimes limited.
"Make no mistake of it, we have a list of projects that, you know, if we ever had any money, we would say, 'OK, we could do this, that, and the other things with it," he said.
But now, Piagentini says there's hope, because included in President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan that just passed Congress is $433 million in state and local aid funding for Louisville and Jefferson County.
"This is about two-thirds of our annual budget just being handed to us in one fell swoop," said Piagentini. "It is like whatever your household income is, if somebody walked up to you today and gave you two-thirds of that. That's what just happened to us."
After several years of tricky budgets, Metro Council Budget Chair Bill Hollander, D-9, says the stimulus will "present a remarkable opportunity to build back, and make significant new investments in our community."
Piagentini doesn't disagree. He thinks it'll be useful to pay down debt and pay for maintenance the city has failed to do for years: maintenance that could vastly improve roads, parks, swimming pools and crumbling buildings.
Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19.
"This is all hard infrastructure needs," Piagentini said.
He adds the $433 million could help erase inequities too.
"There is enough money here, trust me on this, that not only can we help address equity, but we can also just improve the city at-large," he said.
However, he says it's up to council — and taxpayers — to make sure the city spends it well.
Piagentini says, if the money is spent efficiently, the city should avoid another budget crisis — and the threat of a tax increase — for year.
The first half should arrive in the next 60 days.
"The funding is restricted in some ways, which will take some time to fully flesh out," Hollander wrote in an email to his council colleagues. "The deadline to spend funds is December 31, 2024."
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