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Stimulus funds add jobs, servicesNov 30, 2009 (The Hays Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- About nine months after Congress passed its $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, some local organizations are reaping the benefits. According to information from www.recovery.gov, a total of nearly $7.5 million was distributed to 11 Hays entities. Of the Hays entities who have received stimulus dollars, three confirmed the money was used to create more jobs. Other funds were used to maintain current services or to purchase new technology or equipment. The data on the government's Web site suggests a total of 22.5 jobs were created or retained in Hays. However, there has been much question in recent weeks whether that information is reliable. A report issued Nov. 19 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office states that "there are a range of significant reporting and quality issues that need to be addressed." Nearly 4,000 reports showed no dollar amount received or expended, but reported more than 50,000 jobs created or retained, according to the document. Many other reports showed no jobs created or retained, but included expenditures approaching $1 billion, and there were some discrepancies between the reported award amounts and the monies received. The report also states the Web site is a "solid first step" in moving towards transparency and accountability. Expanding services Locally, the most jobs were created with the help of $1.6 million awarded to First Care Clinic, located at 105 W. 13th. That money was used to create 17 jobs, as the clinic's medical and dental staff has expanded. That also allowed the clinic to take on additional uninsured patients, said Chief Executive Officer Bryan Brady. "That's basically what the bulk of our funding was to do, help those patients who lost their job, lost their health insurance," Brady said. Before those grants were received, about 30 percent of the clinic's patients were uninsured. That number has increased to 50 percent, he said. The clinic received three separate grants under the ARRA, one of which was strictly for physical renovations. That grant, in the amount of $50,000, will pay for a renovation of the clinic's lower level, which will allow a newly opened dental clinic to expand. The clinic now has more than 20 employees, with plans to recruit a full-time physician to join two nurse practitioners on the medical side. It's also hoped a second dentist will be added to staff. First Care Clinic is not completely grant funded -- it also relies on patient charges and private donations. Head Start also is utilizing stimulus funds to expand its services. The grant process still is being finalized, but the organization has received sizable grants to grow its regular Head Start and early childhood programs, said Donna Hudson-Hamilton, director of early childhood services. A grant of about $97,500 has been awarded to the regular program, which will enable 12 more families to receive services. The program also will expand to cover Rooks County, she said. An additional award of more than $236,000 will benefit Early Head Start, allowing the program to serve 20 more children and expand ceter-based services at its Munjor site. So far, the funding also has allowed for the hiring of one full-time and one part-time staff member. As the process is finalized, it's expected more staff will be added, she said. The extra funds are much-appreciated, especially as the program has been facing flat budgets and funding reductions, Hudson-Hamilton said. "It's very exciting for us to move forward and serve more families," she said. "We're excited about the opportunities to expand into additional counties." Education: Filling the gap A boost of about $272,000 to the Hays USD 489 Title I program enabled the district to hire two full-time employees, along with one part-time staff member. The majority of the district's ARRA funds -- about $784,000 -- were used to offset budget cuts in the same amount imposed by the state of Kansas, said Richard Cain, assistant superintendent of finance. "All the surrounding states used it for additional funding so that you could hire additional staff," Cain said. "But Kansas chose not to do that." According to information from the ARRA's tracking Web site, www.recovery.gov, the district was awarded about $2 million. Those funds will be divided into two fiscal years. Originally, it was intended that half the funds would be used each year. Following an additional round of state budget cuts, however, 75 percent of that funding will be used this year, leaving only 25 percent for 2011, Cain said. "I think one of our biggest concerns is how the governor has done this," Cain said. "He's using the federal stimulus money to offset a huge amount of that, and boy, that's going to make the fiscal year 2011 budget that much worse." It remains unclear exactly how much money the district will receive each year, Cain said. Following a 7.5 percent tuition hike, Fort Hays State University is also using federal stimulus funds to fill in the gap by making tuition more affordable for Kansas students. The tuition increase was implemented to help make up revenue from a 13 percent reduction in state funding. The university received about $2.8 million from the ARRA. More than $500,000 will be distributed in the form of tuition assistance. A tuition incentive program was established to give undergraduate students $5 for every credit hour completed this fall in an on-campus course. A Stressed Kansan Scholarship Program also was set up to help absorb tuition costs for residents who have lost their jobs and need to be re-trained. FHSU President Edward H. Hammond said there has been interest in the program, but it has been difficult for some to take advantage of it. Potential applicants are concerned that enrolling as a full-time student could jeopardize their unemployment benefits, he said. About $50,000 in funding was allocated to replace faculty computers, and the remaining funds -- about $2.2 million, will be used for deferred maintenance projects. Those projects include replacing the roof of Rarick Hall, completing the final phases of a utility tunnel, and a multi-year project to improve the campus electrical system. "It's a way of stimulating the local economy too, through construction and electric work and things like that," Hammond said. None of the federal grants, however, were used to directly offset FHSU's budget reductions. "It goes away in two years, and so to use stimulus money in your base budget is just prolonging the agony of the budget reduction," he said. According to data from www.recovery.gov, the grants were used to create two jobs. It remains unclear how this data was collected -- no new jobs were added to the university's payroll as a result of the stimulus funds, Hammond said. It's possible, however, that the jobs could be related to construction contracts for deferred maintenance projects. Just maintaining Other stimulus grants were utilized to maintain local programs. Centennial Towers, for example, did not apply for federal grants, but was listed as receiving more than $300,000 on the ARRA Web site. Manager Pat Thibault said the apartment facility typically receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, but was funded through the ARRA instead this year. "It's not anything we did; it's something the federal government did," Thibault said. The money also helps retain two employment positions, she said. The funding is used to subsidize the cost of rent, which is based on residents' income. The amount of funding did not exceed the typical allocation, she said. The Northwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging received nearly $43,700 from the act, which will be used to maintain its nutrition program. That program usually is funded through the Older Americans Act, but that funding was cut this year, said Executive Director Greg Hoover. Those funds are used to provide a noon meal every weekday at area senior centers. The agency covers 31 sites in 18 counties, and will be able to provide more than 23,000 meals with the grants, Hoover said. "It helped us maintain the meals," he said. "Otherwise there could have been waiting lists or cuts." Government assistance The Hays city government also received a piece of the pie -- nearly $42,000 was allocated to enhance technology for the Hays Police Department. The Netmotion cellular data project will improve mobile data terminals in police patrol vehicles, enabling officers to spend more time on the streets, said Information Technology Coordinator Chad Ruder. "In the past, the police officers would always have to come into the squad room ... to look up live records of management information," Ruder said. "They now have the ability to do that in the vehicle." The cellular connection provides a secure network and allows officers to pull up data on laptop computers. Implementation was nearly complete earlier this month, and the technology is fully functional, Ruder said. The total cost for the two-year contract is nearly $60,000, leaving the city with a bill of about $17,500. The grant monies also will help the bottom line of this year's budget. The item was included for funding in the 2009-10 budget, he said. The city also received grant funds for construction of a stormwater retention project at Skyline Draw, located west of Vine and north of Daniel G. Rupp Memorial Park. The grant, which is not listed on the federal Web site, will allow principle forgiveness for 75 percent of the project, which is expected to cost $120,000, said John Braun, assistant director of public works. "This site was identified as one of the worst areas in Hays as far as the highest concentration of contaminants," Braun said. The city long had been considering such a project, and it had been included in the queue for future improvements, but had not yet been budgeted for, he said. The project will be timely, as city staff is looking for ways to ramp up the city's efforts to reduce stormwater pollution, in compliance with federal law. Bids for the project were opened Wednesday, and a contract must be awarded by year's end, Braun said. Construction could begin this spring. Enhancing technology Other stimulus funds were used to purchase new equipment. Sunflower Electric received $200,000 in grants and used the money to purchase a new bulldozer for its coal plant in Holcomb. The funds were distributed through the Environmental Protection Agency's national clean diesel campaign. "It could be used for anything that has a diesel engine that would go for early replacement," said Nikki Pfannenstiel, member services coordinator. "The goal of the program was to reduce the emissions from diesel projects." The machine would have been replaced in a few years, she said. The company also partnered with WaKeeney-based Western Cooperative Electric to purchase a new utility truck. The Hays Housing Authority received nearly $54,000, which was used to purchase new air conditioning units for its 30 apartments. Housing authorities nationwide received a portion of ARRA funds to update and modernize their units, said Executive Director Kathy Nelson. The units, which will improve energy efficiency, have been installed since September. A new bus has been purchased for Access Transportation, which was awarded about $109,000 in stimulus funds. The bus cost about $50,000, and was scheduled to be replaced this fall. Receiving the grants resulted in some cost savings, as the local organization would have been required to pay 20 percent of the costs, Transportation Manager Ron Straight said. The remaining monies to be used to update its computerized dispatching program. That project is in the works, and it remains unclear when that technology will be implemented, Straight said. "It will be better than what we had," he said of the technology. "Hence, it should give us a better recording of the transportation information that we provide." --According to www.recov ery.gov, Northwest Kansas Community Corrections received $11,481. Attempts to contact its director were unsuccessful as of publication time. To see more of The Hays Daily News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hdnews.net. Copyright (c) 2009, The Hays Daily News, Kan. 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. |