In conjunction with the City’s federal lobbyists, the Intergovernmental Relations Department of the Mayor's Office has put together some frequently asked questions to answer inquiries regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (previously known as the Federal Economic Stimulus Package) and its impact on San Diego.

• Where are the major areas that we are advocating to get the most funding?
• How will the City receive funding for local projects, and how much?
• How will the City receive funding for transportation infrastructure, and how much?
• How will the City receive funding for housing, and how much?
• How will the City receive funding for public safety, and how much?
• How will the City receive funding for renewable energy, and how much?
• Who will make decisions about funding special projects?
• What deadlines or restrictions will be put on spending for projects?
• Will there be funding that goes directly to local governments by formula, or other assurances that local governments receive assistance in proportion with their size, responsibilities, and fiscal circumstances?
• In what areas will there be a large increase in jobs?

 

Where are the major areas that we are advocating to get the most funding?

The city is advocating for a variety of funding categories including community development, transportation, housing, renewable energy, water efficiency and public safety.

Additionally, we anticipate that the San Diego Unified School District will receive funding and we expect to see funding for a number of federal buildings and projects around the region including construction projects for our local military bases, coast guard, border patrol and courthouses. Research dollars and capital dollars for research facilities may also make their way to local universities through stimulus funding.

 

How will the City receive funding for local projects, and how much?

Community Development Block Grants:

CDBG is a block grant program that funds a variety of infrastructure and programs including public infrastructure, as well as street and road repairs. The total federal funding for these grants is $1 billion. Initial calculations are that the City will receive approximately $4 million in additional CDBG. Check back to the website to see how the City is allocating that money.

 

How will the City receive funding for transportation infrastructure, and how much?

Transit:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will fund $6.9 billion in transit projects across the country on a formula basis. Locally, these funds will be the responsibility of MTS and SANDAG. Visit SANDAG’s page to see how these monies are being spent.

Highways:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide $27.5 billion for highway projects that would be eligible under the Surface Transportation Program (STP) program. The final bill sub-allocates 30% of funding to urbanized areas of the State with an urbanized area population of over 200,000. SANDAG will be the lead agency in programming these funds. The City of San Diego expects to receive $20 million directly to be used for highways, streets and roads. Check our website to see how the City is allocating that money.

Amtrak:

The Amtrak agency will receive $1.3 billion to spend on repair, rehabilitation, or upgrade of railroad assets or infrastructure, and for capital projects that expand passenger rail capacity, including the rehabilitation of rolling stock. The San Diego region is home to the Los Angeles-San Diego corridor, which is the second busiest Amtrak corridor in the nation.

High Speed Rail:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sets aside $8 billion to be used, first, for high speed rail and, second, to other rail projects, allocating availability through 2012. Although these funds will go directly to the State and then, ultimately, to the High Speed Rail authority, these funds enhance the likelihood that a high speed rail connection between San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento will happen. It is envisioned in the “Destination Lindbergh” plan that a high speed rail will connect Lindbergh Field with Los Angeles.

 

How will the City receive funding for housing, and how much?

Emergency Shelter Grants:

According to the City’s estimates, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will be awarding approximately $6 million in Emergency Shelter Grants to the City. This is a considerable increase from our $600,000 FY 2008 allocation. These funds can be used to provide funding for foreclosure prevention and re-housing; case management and social services; renovation, major rehabilitation, or conversion of buildings for use as emergency shelters or transitional housing; shelter operating costs; and related activities. The City will be required to expend at least 60% of the funds within 2 years of fund availability, and 100% within 3 years.

 

How will the City receive funding for public safety, and how much?

Justice Assistance Grants:

According to the City’s estimates the Department of Justice will be awarding approximately $4 million in Justice Assistance Grants to the City. This is a considerable increase from our $230,000 FY 2008 allocation. Additionally the City will be sharing an additional $5 million with the County. These funds can be used to provide funding for broad-based public safety prevention, intervention, and suppression activities; law enforcement personnel; equipment and facilities (including crime laboratories); community policing; prosecution and court programs; corrections and community corrections programs; drug treatment and enforcement; planning and evaluation; and technology improvements. Check our website to see how the City is allocating that money.

 

How will the City receive funding for renewable energy, and how much?

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act creates a new block grant to assist States and local governments to reduce fossil fuel emissions and total energy use, improve energy efficiency in the transportation, building, and other appropriate sectors, fund financial incentives, provide grants for retrofits, transportation conservation, building codes, energy distribution technologies and landfill gas capture. We estimate that the City will receive approximately a $12 million EECBG block grant.

 

Who will make decisions about funding special projects?

Aside from potential CDBG funding or other grant programs that normally allocate directly to local governments, decision-makers will fall into three categories: federal agencies, States, and for transportation projects, potentially metropolitan planning organizations / regional planning commissions. The City began to proactively approach decision-makers to discuss processes, project eligibility, and begin prioritization before the Economic Stimulus Package was signed into law. Now that the bill has become law, we are working extremely hard to ensure that San Diego receives appropriate funding for our areas of interest from all levels of decision-makers. Any projects funded will have to conform to the criteria developed by these various groups.

 

What deadlines or restrictions will be put on spending for projects?

Recipients of Community Development Block Grants must prioritize use for projects that can award bid-based contracts within 120 days after enactment. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which oversees the CDBG program, must establish requirements to expedite the use of funds.

All transit project funds will be apportioned 21 days after enactment. The first half of the funds must be obligated within 180 days or else it will be redistributed to other recipients. The second half of the funds must be obligated within 1 year.

Highway project funds must be apportioned within 21 days. States must obligate 50% of funds within 120 days or they will be redistributed to other states. 30% Sub-allocates to urbanized areas of the State with an urbanized area population of over 200,000 (these funds are not subject to the redistribution of amounts required 120 days following the date of apportionment clause). All funds must be obligated within 1 year or redistributed to Supplemental Discretionary Grant program.

 

Will there be funding that goes directly to local governments by formula, or other assurances that local governments receive assistance in proportion with their size, responsibilities, and fiscal circumstances?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides limited direct assistance to local governments. However, we will be able to locally access CDBG funds, Justice Assistance Grants, COPS Hiring Program and energy-related demonstration projects. Furthermore, funding to States for highways will be sub-allocated to metropolitan planning organizations, in accordance with existing law, guaranteeing that more than 50% of the funds will be targeted to areas based on population and subject to regional decisions. Similarly, we are advocating to the State that all discretion of local projects should take into consideration population, job creation, and economic impact, thereby assuring some equity for major metropolitan areas, like San Diego.

 

In what areas will there be a large increase in jobs?

The local construction industry has been one of the economic sectors hardest hit by the economic downturn. In order to alleviate these losses, we have been advocating for funding in the area of transportation infrastructure, creating opportunities for projects like highways, transit, high speed rail, Amtrak capital improvements, and airports.