WESTFIELD — Out of more than $17 million the mayor’s office received in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds, all but half a million has been spent or is attached to planned projects, Mayor Michael McCabe told the City Council last month.
The council had requested an accounting of Westfield’s share of the American Recovery Plan Act, a law passed by Congress in 2021 that gave millions of dollars to state and local governments. Unlike the local and state tax dollars spent in the city’s annual budget, ARPA gave mayors broad powers to decide how to spend the federal aid without needing City Council votes or public hearings.
City Councilor Ralph Figy had made the initial request for a listing of expenses.
