A woman walks Oct. 10 in front of Cony High School at 60 Pierce Drive in Augusta. City officials are discussing the possibility of using remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding to help the Augusta School Department with a $1.6 million budget shortfall. Anna Chadwick/Kennebec Journal file

AUGUSTA — The city has about $250,000 remaining in federal relief funding to spend by the end of the year, and no shortage of ways to spend it.

Another year, or maybe two, of dedicated downtown police patrols?

Helping the Augusta School Department overcome a $1.6 million budget shortfall that has caused it to freeze spending, despite special education needs that are increasing?

Upgrading crucial infrastructure, including an obsolete electrical system at the Augusta Civic Center, which could fail, according to an engineering report, and shut down the building for as long as a year?

Or some other pressing need that might push its way to the top of the priority list as the clock runs out on American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funding that the city must allocate by year’s end?

City Manager Jared Mills said Augusta still has between $228,000 and $278,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress in 2021. The city must allocate the money before the end of 2024, with the amount varying between the two figures based on whether Augusta sets aside $50,000 for cleanup projects in the Sand Hill area or reallocates the funding.

Mills said he did not have specific proposals for how to use the remaining, one-time funding, so he opened it up to city councilors at their meeting last week to see how they would like the city to use the money.

Some councilors suggested the city use at least some of the money to help the School Department narrow a $1.6 million budget gap, which school officials have said is due in large part to special education costs that have increased since the budget was finalized in the spring.

In response to the budget shortfall, school officials have opted not to fill vacant positions, freezing the positions for now.

William Savage and Stephanie Sienkiewicz, who are at-large city councilors, advocated for using the ARPA funding to help city schools deal with the shortfall.

“We don’t have enough money to pay for all that we need to pay for, but I would prioritize the school situation,” Savage said. “We didn’t anticipate a $1.6 million shortfall in the school budget and the impact that has on our kids in their education.”

Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Judkins suggested checking with education officials to hear how Augusta schools might use the money.

Mills said Superintendent Michael Tracy Jr. has said providing some of the ARPA funding to the School Department would be an acceptable use of the money.

Some city councilors and Mayor Mark O’Brien said they would like to use some of the remaining money to extend funding for overtime for the Police Department to continue patrols in the downtown area.

Dedicated patrols began last year after complaints from downtown businesses and residents about harassment and illegal activity by a few transient people, who were reportedly intimidating visitors and making people feel unsafe.

At-Large Councilor Courtney Gary-Allen suggested setting aside ARPA funding to pay for the downtown police patrols for another one or two years.

While the city must allocate the federal funding by Dec. 31, it has until 2026 to spend the money, officials said.

Ward 4 Councilor Eric Lind said the city should prioritize public safety needs and pressing facilities needs, such as updates to heating, ventilation, air conditioning and electrical systems at the aging, city-owned Augusta Civic Center at 76 Community Drive.

Mills said he would prepare information on how the funding might be used based on priorities cited by city councilors, and provide it for them to consider at an informational meeting.

He said the city received $1.98 million in ARPA funding.

All told, Maine municipalities and counties received $502 million.