PORT ANGELES — The city of Port Angeles has an estimated $10 million in unspent federal dollars that may be impacted by the Trump administration’s previous temporary pause of funding for all federal grant, loan and financial assistance awards.
While the situation is evolving rapidly, city staff have identified the funds as awards that may be lost once the dust settles, according to a city council memo.
The programs and projects associated with the funding do not have alternative funding sources available and will require further analysis and project delays, the memo stated.
The projects impacted include: $3.6 million for signal controller upgrades on First and Front streets; $2.1 million for electric vehicle charging stations; $1.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds; $1.3 million for First and Front streets pedestrian enhancements; $1 million for Race Street design and construction; $350,000 for HVAC upgrades to city facilities; a total of $165,000 for police department programs, overtime and bulletproof vests; $145,000 for wastewater and stormwater staff.
There may be more grants that are impacted that have not yet been identified, City Manager Nathan West said.
“We are continuing to work daily with news and information relative to our federal grants,” he told the city council Tuesday night.
These awards were among a swath of federal grants, loans and other financial assistance that the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) paused on Jan. 28, pending a review of awards and programs.
Both the initial scope of the pause, and whether Trump had the authority to unilaterally halt funds allocated by Congress, are unclear, according to the New York Times.
The fate of these dollars is even more uncertain given that a federal judge temporarily blocked the funding freeze minutes before it was scheduled to take effect, according to The Associated Press. The OMB then rescinded its memo on Jan. 29.
However, given that many organizations still struggled to access those dollars, on Monday the judge extended the temporary block of the action, according to Reuters.
The city council memo stated the OMB issued a separate memo saying the only programs impacted are those implicated by the following executive orders: Protecting the American People Against Invasion; Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid; Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements; Unleashing American Energy; Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Programs and Preferencing; Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government; and Enforcing the Hyde Amendment.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
