Ever since the Biden administration uncorked the largest federal relief program in American history two years ago for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, this newspaper has welcomed the funding — with two major caveats.

First, we had hoped the approximately quarter-billion dollars allocated to the Mahoning Valley in American Rescue Plan Act funding would have been targeted toward visionary large-scale projects with regionwide impacts. To a great extent, that hope has been dashed as communities largely have chosen smaller parochial projects that clearly have immediate merit but lack long-term transformational viability.

Second, we had called for extreme caution, clear transparency and stringent oversight to ensure all ARP monies are appropriated and spent properly according to federal guidelines. Though we have questioned the propriety of some local ARP expenditures over the past two years, the most serious potential abuse of the program emerged earlier this month in Youngstown, when city Law Director Jeff Limbian released a scathing letter about “disturbingly inappropriate expenditures” by 3rd Ward Councilwoman Samantha Turner and Sharon Letson, executive director of the CityScape revitalization organization.

The expenditures related to the ongoing Belmont Avenue corridor revitalization project on the North Side.

The law chief wrote: “Please cease all ARP expenditures until a complete review can be accomplished. Federal laws have been violated, and certain expenditures are not in conformity with the Youngstown city administration’s plan for the best utilization of ARP funds. Please forward all receipts, invoices and expenditures to the law department as soon as practicable so that an investigation with greater scrutiny can be accomplished.”

Limbian’s findings are particularly shocking given that Councilwoman Turner has been viewed as a forceful watchdog over ARP spending.

In fact, she was the lone council member to vote “no” on 2022 legislation to give each council member $2 million of the city’s $83 million ARP allocation, the very funding that the city accuses Turner of using improperly.

Last year when explaining her vote, she said the administration of Mayor Jamael Tito Brown did not provide “guidelines and instructions” for proper ARP spending.

Judging by Limbian’s long list of questionable expenses, it appears as if Turner never received them or researched them on her own. The list of problems with expenditures for the Belmont project include an Airbnb in Washington, dinners and alcohol, consulting firms, CityScape administrative fees and lobbying federal officials in Washington for more grant funding.

Not surprisingly, Turner and Letson both responded strongly to Limbian’s findings.

Turner said, “I will work with the United States Treasury to ensure that we meet the required law and I look forward to providing additional information in the future.” But Turner also rebutted Limbian’s letter outlining irregularities as “politically motivated.”

That’s unfair and mean-spirited.

Letson, in her response, said “CityScape did not knowingly use any funds improperly. ARP funding and guidelines are new and untested, and we will take all necessary steps to clarify the process.”

For his part, Limbian said the city is further investigating the targeted expenditures. All those found clearly to violate the letter of the law governing ARP disbursements must be repaid.

Beyond that, a stronger system of controls should be implemented to ensure potentially questionable spending of COVID-19 relief dollars — and any grant dollars awarded the city for that matter — is avoided before any money changes hands.

Let us be clear. We do not like the way these funds have been allocated, particularly in $2 million pots of money for each ward council member to spend as he or she sees fit. As a result, most of these funds are trickling away with little to show for them.

Council should rethink these ward allocations and pull back use of all those that have not yet been spent.