City of Buffalo, Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency pass memorandum of agreement in response to potential federal funding freeze

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The City of Buffalo and the City of Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) signed a memorandum of agreement Tuesday to allow federal funds to be distributed to BURA.

The agreement was done in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for a spending freeze on federal assistance that was set to go into effect on Tuesday before it was blocked by a federal judge.

“The city of Buffalo and the administration and the council is doing everything we can to try to assure that extremely important dollars for everyone in our community are allocated and safe,” said Buffalo Common Council Member Bryan Bollman.

The memorandum of agreement allows the city to pull down funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to give to BURA. Council member Mitch Nowakwoski said BURA is in agreement to then distribute that money to community development and housing initiatives.

“HOPWA dollars which is Housing [Opportunities] for People with AIDS. We have dollars that go to emergency rental assistance, roof repairs, boilers,” Nowakowski said. “You name it — critical services that our community is in need of in order to thrive.”

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According to Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon, none of the parameters of the program will change with this memorandum of agreement. Scanlon describes it as a proactive measure in case Trump’s order eventually goes into effect.

“We know who these programs hit, it’s the neediest of the needy in our community,” Scanlon said. “So, it was imperative we got together today, and I can’t stress enough how thankful I am that everyone in the building got on the same page quickly today.”

Scanlon said he does have some concerns of push back from the Trump administration in the future, but he is in conversations with Congressman Tim Kennedy and Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to see what can be done at the federal level.

“We’re going to continue to work together to make sure that we are able to administer these funds to the people who need it,” Scanlon said. “We will do everything we can to make sure that we get that done.”

The pause of Trump’s executive order will be in effect until at least 5 p.m. Monday to allow for further litigation.

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Trina Catterson joined the News 4 team in 2024. She previously worked at WETM-TV in Elmira, a sister station of WIVB. See more of her work here.

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