In the Caucus Meeting, Public Works Commissioner Nate Marton answered Council Member Rasheed Wyatt’s questions about street salt. Right now, there is a shortage of salt in Western New York for salting the streets. The city is relying on its “emergency pile,” a mountain of salt under tarps, over at the Perry Street project location.

Administration and Finance Acting Commissioner Nosworthy answered questions about the $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds that had been—according to an explosive letter from the comptroller—left on the table and would need to be returned to the federal government. Nosworthy claimed that the comptroller was wrong and that this money would remain with the city. The disagreement, he later explained, was over money that was being spent internally, rather than going through an external contract process. Since the money is just being transferred within the city’s accounts, it shows up to the comptroller as not having been spent.

Representatives from the comptroller’s office then came to the meeting to explain their position: they could only see the data that the Administration and Finance Department entered into the city’s computer budget system. The $2.5 million didn’t show up in the system as being promised to anything, so the comptroller’s office assumed it was unaccounted for.

The council questioned the inability of the two departments to communicate. “I have a question,” interrupted Council Woman Zeneta Everhart. “You all couldn’t just call these people? You’re all in the same building. I don’t understand why the adults in this building can’t talk to one another.” The commissioner explained that some of the discrepancies reflected the fact that some contracts were changing or would have to change in the future. In some cases, things will come in over budget; in the event that they come in under budget, the city will reallocate those funds “for similar work.”

Council Member Wyatt asked Nosworthy to explain how residents will access the money for property tax debt relief. Nosworthy said that the amount had been greatly reduced—to around $2.5 million—because so many people had already received arrears help from the state. There has been no public information, however, to inform people how they might apply for these funds, nor is it clear what the department’s plans are for getting the word out. The comptroller’s office pointed out that these funds had been promised years ago and still were not being spent. Nosworthy said that the eligible homeowners’ accounts had been identified, and the city was now figuring out how to credit those accounts. Nosworthy seemed to suggest that there wouldn’t be an application process. “I know they’ve already been identified, and the process is very far along,” Nosworthy said. The goal will be to finish this process by fall of 2026.

Because of the winter storm, the Regular Meeting was cut short. The council asked the Law Department to quickly provide an opinion about whether an acting mayor can appoint acting commissioners without the council’s approval. They also want to know if an acting mayor can appoint permanent commissioners. The council also sent a proposed law creating a city charter review commission to the Legislation Committee, where it will be discussed on Tuesday January 28th.