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 In the
increasingly difficult search for funds, city and county officials are
trying new strategies, including tapping into “green” funding and taking
extra steps to educate state and federal officials about their needs. Some
departments are using technology to lower their legal exposure and reduce
labor.
In February 2008, Phoenix officials were searching for ways to fund the
construction of a new “green” parking lot for the city's Southwest Family
Services Center, set to break ground in May 2009. “The city is in dire need
of money right now,” says Max Enterline, a planner with Phoenix's Planning
Research Team. With sales tax revenues down, the city has had to cut $90
million from the budget, including 445 jobs, according to Lynn Timmons, the
city's federal relations and grants liaison.
Enterline applied for a $250,000 grant from the Arizona Department of Water
Quality, which was part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water
Act programs. The grant could cover 60 percent of the costs of the new
parking lot, which will be constructed with pervious concrete that allows
oil and hydraulic fluids to slowly seep into the ground, and will process
leaked vehicle fluids slowly over time. Phoenix will cover the remaining
cost with bond money.
More “green” funds soon will become available through the $2 billion Energy
Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, which Congress passed this session
and now awaits appropriation. Also, the $307 billion Food, Conservation and
Energy Security Act of 2008 includes new grants, including the $5 million
Biodiesel Education Program that will be available to fleet managers.
Some small communities have to take extra steps to make their needs known to
the people holding the purse strings. In 2004, Johnson County, Wyo., Road
and Bridge Department resource utilization specialist Cheryl Benner set up a
“road show” for legislators and representatives from the governor's office,
the state treasurer and other officials to see county roads that needed
repair. “We pounded home the numbers – produced via PubWorks.
For example, one loaded gravel truck trip is like 96 passenger car trips,”
Benner says. “We got six of the seven state officials on the roads, and our
grant application to the State Lands and Investment Board was the first
successful application for a road project in many, many years.”
Sometimes new funds are not needed when a city can better preserve its
existing reserves. In Snowmass Village, Colo., Road Supervisor John Baker
found he could avoid costly lawsuits if he used PubWorks to
carefully log all aspects of the department's work.
Two years ago, a storm unleashed torrential rains. Two residents filed suit
against the town, saying the Roads Department did not maintain culverts and
ditches, and the residents' homes flooded as a result. Baker was able to
check his asset management system, which showed when the work had been
completed. The suit was subsequently dropped.
The city bought the PubWorks asset management system in
January of 2000 for only $4,000. Baker says he cannot say how much the city
could have lost in potential lawsuits, but the two homes' damage was
estimated at $60,000.
In Phoenix, Timmons sees continued severe funding shortages and job cuts
this year. “Public funding is on a downslide,” she says. Despite that, she
maintains that through public and private sources, money is available. “I
would teach people you can't spend all your time chasing dollars, but
creativity opens doors.”
Table of Contents Volume 4, Edition 3
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