Jamestown is on track to spend all of the American Rescue Plan Act funding it allocated for housing demolitions by the end of the year.

That means the city will meet the federal deadline for the use of that pot of money – though that should be the least of the city’s concerns, in our opinion, when it comes to housing demolitions.

The city usually budgets between $100,000 and $130,000 for emergency demolitions – or enough for between three to four demolitions. City officials also include funding for housing demolitions in the annual Community Development Block Grant program. In the past, money the state Attorney General’s Office received from legal settlements with subprime mortgage lenders was used by Jamestown and other cities to help pay for housing demolitions through land banks.

Many city residents want to see housing demolitions proceed at a quicker pace, but the ever-increasing cost of housing demolitions and a limited number of companies able to tear down derelict homes limits how many houses can be torn down. Mind you, the pace that isn’t fast enough for some is fueled in part by ARPA funding.

We don’t see another $28 million coming from the federal government anytime soon, and given the fact the city has already signaled it is likely looking at a tax increase exceeding the state’s 2% tax cap. Obviously the city won’t be able to replace the ARPA funding for housing demolitions with new money from the city’s budget without further increasing taxes on city residents.

That means another funding source is going to be needed if the city wants to keep up its current pace of demolitions – or, even better, try to pick up the pace if new contractors can be certified to handle the work.