(WXYZ) — Hundreds of millions of dollars are headed to the City of Detroit from the federal American Rescue Plan.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan established the Detroit Future Fund, and he said the city will receive about $826 million. That's two installments of about $413 million.
The first half arrives next week with the second payment coming next year, and the funds must be spent by 2024.
Detroit is in the top five cities to receive the funds, behind New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Here's how Duggan said the money will be used.
- $400 million will offset potential deficits through 2024
- $100 million will be used to fight inter-generational poverty
- $100 million to restore neighborhoods
- $100 million for parks and recreation
- $50 million for public safety
- $50 million to reduce digital divide
- $26 million to help small businesses
The money can not be used to pay past debt and it cannot be used on pension fund, or on past legal issues.
Honing in on the $50 million towards public safety and with a new police chief starting in a week, Duggan says $16 million will be used to tackle speeding and drifting, by buying 100 more patrol cars and helicopters.
$7 million will go towards a new training facility, $10 million toward four new ambulance centers and $17 million toward gun violence, purchasing more shot-spotter technology and traffic cameras.
"We have every day, drive-by shootings where we have descriptions of the car. What if we gave police the ability to see where those cars went and get these shooters? Could we change the level of violence along with all of the other things we're doing?" Duggan asked.
Over the next 3 1/2 weeks, the city will be holding 25 community meetings for public input.
