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Tarrant County's big benefactor: The federal government [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas](Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 13--Tarrant County Republican Tom Wilder says he runs the most efficient district clerk's office among the state's five largest counties. So the longtime conservative was a natural to attend the Southlake Tea Party in April -- he even keeps a tea bag on his desk. At the event, hundreds of people protested what they see as excessive federal spending and pretty much anything to do with President Barack Obama's domestic agenda. One woman with a child held a sign reading, "Five months old and already $36,000 in debt." At Tarrant County rallies, government bailouts have been denounced as betrayals and stimulus spending as socialism. Some Tea Party activists are even snatching up Texas Secede T-shirts. On a YouTube video of the Southlake rally, Wilder told the camera: "The citizens would throw me out of office if I engaged in some of the excessive tax-and-spend policies that they do up in Washington." Or maybe even some of the federal spending done right here in Tarrant County. Though political strategists have long considered Tarrant County one of the most reliably Republican areas in the country, it is also one of the fattest when it comes to feasting on the government cheese. Among the 20 most-populated U.S. counties, Tarrant raked in more federal money in 2008 than any except Los Angeles and Cook County, Ill., not counting flood insurance payments. (The county might be bumped down one on the list if New York City was included, but several of its counties are combined statistically, making it difficult to know how much money went to each.) Before stimulus money ever got here, Tarrant took in a staggering $34,433,911,681, according to the Census Bureau. That's billions more than county taxpayers forked over to the Treasury. Want bragging rights? Democratic-leaning Dallas County received a comparative trifle in 2008: $15.7 billion. Harris County, with more than twice Tarrant's population, got $23.7 billion. Skepticism of government Contemptuous of big government? Take away the big federal installations here, including the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing currency plant, the National Archives Southwest Region, the regional FAA Air Route Traffic Control Center, the federal courts, the new veterans clinic, the Securities and Exchange Commission regional headquarters -- the list goes on -- and Tarrant still lives it up on the federal dole. While the lion's share of spending was for defense contracts, socialist-y health, education and welfare programs -- a particular target of tea-bag-toting critics -- raged like wildfires all over the county in 2008. Food stamps rang up $135.6 million. Section 8 housing for the poor was $60 million more. A $2 million splurge bought the poor assistance with heating and cooling. Then came the federal infusion -- or intrusion, depending on how you look at it -- into schools, much of it aimed at helping low-income students. The Fort Worth school district received about $97.7 million. That includes $67 million in direct grants, or about 10 percent of the district's budget. Kick in the $50 million spent by Arlington schools and the $15 million in Birdville and patches of the county start to pink up. Even school districts considered wealthy by the state got coin from the federal coffers last year. Many of the programs have existed for decades. What got many Tea Party-goers riled up this year were federal initiatives on health insurance, deplored by opponents as socialized medicine. They also loathed the more than $1 trillion deficit rung up under Obama and a Democratic Congress. That was a lot of money to add to the $10.7 trillion national debt at the end of 2008. Gina Skinner of Colleyville attended the Southlake Tea Party and opposes Obama's agenda, especially his healthcare plan. "I don't like the idea of the government controlling everybody's healthcare," she said. Of course, the feds' sticky fingerprints are already on Tarrant's healthcare. U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, tagged $97,000 for a social program primarily targeting the poor: the Tarrant County Infant Mortality Task Force. The infant death rate here outpaces both the state and national rates. And Medicare and Social Security beneficiaries received $2.28 billion in 2008. Skinner said her husband receives Social Security benefits and uses Medicare. But those are programs she somewhat approves of. "I don't consider Social Security a socialist [program] because we pay for it," she said. "Everybody that works pays for it. Medicare really is not either because you're paying for it also when you work. But it's got too much government control of it...there's too many crooks in there." U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, says the tea protesters aren't anti-government. They are just expressing disdain for big government. "There's anger, there's frustration, there's fear," she said in a recent interview. There's also the desire for Uncle Sam to help tote the load. Colleyville residents -- who live in one of the state's richest cities (average household income $173,853) didn't balk at spending $1.4 million in federal money for railroad crossings and another $1.4 million for work on an intersection, City Manager Jennifer Fadden said. Meanwhile, Colleyville's property tax rate stayed in the cellar among Tarrant cities, at 35.59 cents per $100 of assessed value. "One thing I would say about that is we try to maintain a very high level of service for a low tax rate in Colleyville," Fadden said. "In order to do that, we have to maximize revenue from as many sources as we can." Defense and transit Last year, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, earmarked $2 million for a local company to lower the cost of producing high-temperature propulsion systems for strike weapons. One main reason Tarrant is locked and loaded with federal dollars is that the county has been hugely successful in luring defense spending -- a product of powerful political and civic leaders and defense contractors. In 2008, local defense contractors were satiated with $26.4 billion in Defense Department projects. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics alone employs about 14,000 here, and the company says it had a payroll in Fort Worth of about $1.27 billion in 2008. Local Defense Department employees, military and civilian, cost $127 million in salaries alone in 2008. Many in the Lipton crowd jump to the defense of defense spending. Burgess calls it "good federal spending." "That is federal spending that is spent for the right reason, to keep our country safe, to keep us free," he said. And keep Pakistan safe. In one deal, Lockheed's Fort Worth plant will receive up to $3 billion in U.S. contracts to provide 18 F-16s, along with support equipment, weapons, training and options for additional planes. Transportation projects also dip into the federal green. Local airports get a hand up, or a handout, depending on your point of view. Dallas/Fort Worth Airport received $108 million in federal dollars in the past three years. Alliance Airport has received $75 million, with the potential for $99 million more for a runway extension, according to documents from Burgess' office. The Fort Worth-owned Spinks and Meacham airports also feed from the federal trough. Bob Porter, manager for Arlington Municipal Airport, said federal dollars are paying 90 percent of a $387,526 taxiway lighting project. "Almost every construction project we do, and I'm talking about major now...is federally funded," Porter said. All local reliever airports "take federal grants for their projects. And without it, you wouldn't have the airport system in place you have now nationwide." As you check out at the federal money store, don't forget to ring up spending for rail, bus and highways; federal mortgage insurance; clean water; enhanced domestic-assault-response teams; homeland security; and assistance to firefighters. Federal money pours into Tarrant in so many ways that it's hard to get a good accounting. The Census Bureau tries, but its list has some tricky data in it. For instance, records show that the FBI received about $10.5 million for a Tarrant contract that no one at the agency could explain, FBI special agent Mark White said. Other money is tracked through the Federal Audit Clearinghouse and agency budgets. Good luck trying to reconcile those numbers. The SEC regional office in Fort Worth had no idea what its budget was. A Freedom of Information Act request to the national office showed that it was $14.8 million. A request for the budget of the FBI's Fort Worth office, sent in late September, went into J. Edgar Hoover land and never returned. Where to cut? So what federal funding should Tarrant part with? Granger wouldn't go there, deferring to county officials. Burgess, who attended a couple of Tea Parties this year and spoke at a rally in Fort Worth, said there are always ways to make programs more efficient. "We're constantly looking for those," he said. But he argues that federal spending in his district, which includes impoverished parts of Fort Worth, is inadequate in some respects. "Remember, the part of Fort Worth that I represent is the part of Fort Worth with the greatest need. It's pretty hard for me to say, 'Yeah, let's go cut a bunch of stuff.' It's not a discussion that I'm going to get into." For example, since 2005, when his district took in a swath of Fort Worth, he has wondered why there are not more federally qualified health centers in "neighborhoods that desperately need one." This summer, Fort Worth finally got its second. Austin, with a similar-size population, has eight. Burgess, a physician, said it's been tough to fight through the bureaucracy. "That is one of the difficulties with federal spending," he said. "If you don't advocate for it, it doesn't happen. Is that the correct system to have? That's a broader question that I don't know I can answer for you." Some critics have zeroed in on congressional earmarks. Among U.S. representatives for parts of Tarrant County, only Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, is kosher when it comes to pork. Barton has said earmarks help representatives prioritize projects that bureaucrats won't. Burgess said it's a way to advocate for his district. Granger supported them as long as they can be justified. A big one she supports: the Trinity River Vision Authority project, which will cost federal taxpayers an estimated $487 million. Granger noted that the House and Senate authorized the project. The House Appropriations Committee parcels out funding each year, she said. Granger is a committee member. A Granger earmark of $741,810 also helped Cook Children's Medical Center buy and install an $8.8 million iMRI. The device allows neurosurgeons to completely remove a brain tumor. Repeat surgeries, once a necessity for some children, have been eliminated, hospital officials said. "When you're in a child's brain, you want to be as precise as you can," said Nancy Cychol, president of Cook Children's Medical Center. Take away the Medicaid funding to JPS ($122 million in 2006), and the county tax burden goes up. Take the hammer (or sickle) to the nearly $683 million that the Census Bureau shows Tarrant got in 2008 for medical assistance for children, pregnant women and the aged -- would hospitals and doctors shoulder the load? Few answers Jennefer Campbell of Bedford, who organized the Hurst Tea Party held in April, said she would need more details before deciding what to cut. But she believes that bureaucracy and overhead weigh down federal programs. She wasn't sure whether to cut Fort Worth's summer food program, which set back federal taxpayers $446,261, according to a federal audit. In 2008, the city served 4,772 children across the county. The program prevents hunger among many children who receive free or reduced-price lunches during the school year, said Jan McMullen, with the city. Campbell said the program doesn't sound too bad on the surface. But "it's kind of more of a slippery slope. It doesn't really matter what it is, how small or how big. It's all leading us to a place I don't think we really want to go." She's more torn by the thought of reducing money for commuter rail. The Trinity Railway Express, completed in 2002, cost federal taxpayers $138.6 million. Officials hope for about $235 million from the feds for southwest-to-northeast commuter rail. Campbell sees the T as a transportation system that helps the disadvantaged. On the other hand, "I don't like the money that's spent on it," she said. "But that wouldn't be...one of my biggest issues." Others target corporate bailouts, such as the federal government purchase of a majority of General Motors, often derided as Government Motors these days. Its Arlington plant employs 2,600. Skinner, who attended the Southlake Tea Party, opposed the bailout, even though a family member's retirement was at stake. The relative opposed the bailout, too, she said. "I don't think they would have gone out of business," Skinner said. "I think they would have to refit themselves. Reduce some wages, lay off some people." Perhaps Wilder could suggest cuts in the federal money that the Tarrant County government receives. In 2008, the county spent more than $56.8 million in federal funds -- some for programs that dovetail with the criminal justice system that Wilder helps run as the district clerk. Included were grants to assist crime victims, combat violence against women, fund drug court, enhance the crime lab and reduce the forensic DNA backlog. Wilder said he didn't have time to look through a list of federally funded county spending to see what might be trimmed. The Star-Telegram gave him three weeks to review the 11-page document, but Wilder said he was too busy. "You don't start cutting large budgets from the bottom up -- it must be done from the top down to fit existing revenues," he said in an e-mail. "The $56 million...you refer to is a small fraction of 1 percent of the one trillion dollar deficit of this federal budget year." The Star-Telegram supplied a much larger list of federal spending in the county to leaders of the Tarrant County Republican and Democratic parties. Stephanie Klick, chairwoman of the Republican Party, said the first question to ask about the programs is whether they are the "legitimate role of government." Klick didn't name any particular programs she'd ax because of the lack of details in the list, she said. "This is not adequate to answer your question," she wrote, referring to the list. "Even worthy projects and programs can be plagued with waste, fraud and abuse. Medicare is a great example. The devil is in the details. The audit provides few details." Steve Maxwell, Klick's counterpart for the Democratic Party, said it was eye-opening to see how much Tarrant County benefits from federal dollars. "It's almost laughable, in the context of this secession talk, to see what Texas would be like without this kind of federal money coming in," he said. Without it, he said, "we'd be relegated to Third World status almost overnight." ------ Grants and contracts In 2008, federal funding in Tarrant County helped improve communication among law enforcement agencies, paid for submarine parts, delivered bread to service members and kept local airports safe for travel. A look at some of the grants and contracts: Police communication The White Settlement Police Department received a $500,000 grant for radio equipment. Previously, officers had to communicate with law enforcement dispatchers in Fort Worth and the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department by cellphone. Without the grant, White Settlement Police Chief Jack Ely said, getting the new system would have been tougher. "It would have taken a lot longer to pay for and [put] a lot more burden to the taxpayers in the city," Ely said. Military parts Fort Worth Gasket & Supply in Haltom City employs 11 to build or procure parts for submarines, aircraft carriers, aircraft and tanks, said Chi-Yeh Han Boone, president and CEO. Last year, its defense contracts generated $3.5 million in revenue, Boone said. "Without this government business, I probably would not be too much bigger than I was 17 years ago," she said. Food staples Even Mrs Baird's Bakeries is among local defense contractors. In 52-week sales ending Oct. 11, the company sold $225,483 worth of bread, sweet goods and other groceries to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth. "We only have one Defense Commissary Agency account [U.S. military grocery store] that Bimbo Bakeries USA, Mrs Baird's parent company, delivers to in D-FW," company spokeswoman Elizabeth Watters said. Reliever airports Spinks received $2.7 million in fiscal 2007, the latest year for which data were available. Meacham got $8.1 million the same year. Grand Prairie Municipal Airport, just inside the Tarrant County line, got $616,463 in fiscal 2008. Arlington Municipal Airport got $6.4 million from fiscal 2007 to 2009. Without federal assistance, the four Tarrant reliever airports, which generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity, likely would not exist as they do today. The 4,866 jobs they created in 2005 might be gone, too. DARREN BARBEE, 817-390-7126 To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |