Do You Feel “Stimulated?” City Requesting $9,346 Per Citizen
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly known as “The Stimulus”, allocates $787 billion to jump start the American economy. Some of these funds will flow to local jurisdictions through the various statehouses.
In Virginia, localities had until last Saturday to submit proposals to the governor’s office. According to the official website, the Commonwealth has received a total of 8,125 proposals in 20 categories, totaling $4.5 trillion, an amount equal to six times the entire stimulus package.
The City of Falls Church has submitted a relatively modest request of 46 proposals, with a total estimated value of $104,680,250. Of this, $66 million is for facility improvements. On a per capita basis, this comes to $9,346 per citizen.
However, Virginia’s theoretical share of the Stimulus based on its population comes to ”only” just under $20 billion or $2,574 per state resident. Based on Falls Church’s estimated population of 11,200, the city would be allocated 27.5% of its request or around $28.8 million.
But even this is probably overly optimistic as only $126 billion of the total Stimulus is designated for infrastructure and science. Falls Church’s theoretical share of that “pot” comes to only $4,608,000 or about $100 million short of the city’s total request.
Projects perhaps most likely to receive funds have been designated as “shovel ready.” Twenty-eight of Falls Church’s 46 projects fall into this category. The largest of these is $3 million for the GEORGE bus service.
It will be very interesting to see how much the city receives and how it decides to spend it. Citizens may not have long to wait as President Obama wants half of the Stimulus allocated within 120 days.
The following 12 projects all are priced at $1 million or higher. Projects that are shovel-ready are highlighted.
School Future Construction / Systems Replacement Renewal - $51.965 Million
City Hall / Public Safety Facility Improvements - $16 Million
City Center Redevelopment Improvements - $6.552 Million
Municipal Parking Garage - $6 Million
GEORGE Bus Service - $3 Million
Broad Street / Washington Street Streetscape and Utility Undergrounding - $3 Million
Park Master Plan Implementation - $2 Million
Storm Water Facility Improvements - $2 Million
Affordable Housing (CCSA) - $1.5 Million
Pedestrian / Traffic Calming / Bicycle Route Improvements - $1.5 Million
Roadbed and Road Reconstruction - $1.45 Million
Trail Improvements - $1 Million
The complete, detailed list of projects as submitted to Governor Kaine (10 pages):
Assistant City Manager Mester’s Memo to the Council concerning the city’s request:
The Virginia Stimulus website:
http://www.stimulus.virginia.gov./
By George Bromley
March 9, 2009
I don’t understand how the City Council can ask for $3M for GEORGE bus service and then cut GEORGE bus service?