Columbia compiles list of 45 projects for federal funding

City officials have prepared a list of 45 projects totaling $87 million.

By Anthony Gotelli IV

Published Feb. 2, 2009

Columbia officials put forth a list of projects this week in expectation of receiving federal funding from a stimulus package that could be approved by the U.S. Senate.

Facing increasing demand for municipal spending, city officials are eager to get to work on projects that "go directly to the people where the people are," Mayor Darwin Hindman said.

"This type of spending is necessary for infrastructure improvement," Hindman said.

Hindman will fly to Washington on Tuesday morning to meet with Sens. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

Hindman and his fellow mayors are pushing for a national Main Street Economic Recovery Package that would provide infrastructure and jobs funding directly to cities and local areas.

As state and local officials prepare for the infusion of federal money, debate has already begun as to where the money will go and what projects warrant tax payer investment.

Columbia has listed 45 projects that would bring more than $87 million to the city and create more than 280 new jobs.

Of the proposed projects, three would be put toward the improvement of local streets, which total $48 million.

Gans Road and Scott Boulevard have been targeted specifically for renovation. The remaining funds would be divided between improvements to the water system and energy efficiency. Whether local authorities will actually be given control of these funds remains to be seen.

"Eighty percent of the gross national product comes from metropolitan areas," Hindman said. "By getting the money to the cities and local governments, you avoid a lot of state and federal bureaucracy."

Although local authorities seek more flexibility in their ability to spend federal stimulus dollars, state officials have assumed an oversight role in the process.

"This money is designated for economic stabilization and it needs to be spent in the best way possible," said Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, a member of the Missouri Senate's special committee on the allocation of federal stimulus funds.

Schaefer said he and his colleagues would seek to ensure the stimulus funds that reach Missouri would stay there, while also using a portion of them to attract additional federal grant money.

"Federal taxpayers in Missouri would rather see their money go to projects in Missouri than to similar efforts in Kansas," Schaefer said.

That money will have to be put to work quickly as federal stimulus money comes with a stipulation that half of any funding received must be put to work within 180 days.

Significant debate is also taking place at the state level as to how much of the money will be put toward one-time construction projects and how much should be devoted to the expansion of existent social programs in relief of those adversely affected by economic conditions.

"It appears a large chunk of these funds will go toward an expansion of social programs," Schaefer said. "But this money is only expected to last 27 months and when its gone we might be left with a tax burden we cannot support."

The money might not be in the hands of the state legislators or city officials when all is said and done, as Gov. Jay Nixon has already tagged more than $809 million to balance the state's 2010 budget in anticipation of receiving federal stimulus funds.

Spending the money in any fashion has become a hot-button issue for some legislators.

"This bill was intended for economic stimulus, and it has become a spending spree," said Paul Sloca, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo.

Luetkemeyer, like every House Republican, voted against the stimulus bill last week.

Republican legislators have been meeting with President Barack Obama since Friday to work out a bipartisan compromise to the bill.