by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
It’s one of those days everyone dreams about.
A van pulls up in the driveway then a camera crew gets out followed by a couple of people with a bunch of balloons and a big check.
That’s what happens when it’s your turn to win the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes and that’s what it’s been like lately at City Hall. Confirmation of the first federal stimulus American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants are beginning to arrive.
Since the ARRA was enacted by Congress in February, the City has applied for a total of $326,320,454.20 in grants that could affect all departments of government and segments of the population. As of yesterday morning, a total of $183,030,811.80 in ARRA grants are in the pipeline and on the way to Duval County.
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kerri Stewart is the point person for the City’ ARRA grants program. She said as soon as the legislation was enacted by Congress the effort began to develop a strategy to secure funds for the community.
After reviewing a report published by the City’s lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. a team of subject matter experts and potential grant recipients went to work.
“We evaluated how ARRA was going to work and identified program areas focusing on things that are important to Duval County residents, businesses and nonprofit organizations. Then we developed a game plan to position Duval County to qualify for as much money as possible,” said Stewart.
The plan focused on achieving several goals including “keeping people working, creating new jobs, retraining a distressed workforce and helping our most vulnerable populations,” she added.
The first ARRA grants awarded will be managed by the Department of Housing and Neighborhoods (reported in the July 29 Daily Record). The funds granted are part of the United States Department of Housing and Urban development’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP).
Those grants are similar to other ARRA grants that have been awarded so far in that they support existing initiatives and can be implemented with protocols already in place — in the case of the HPRP grants, nonprofit organizations with an established track record for providing specific services required to qualify for the grants.
Stewart said federal grant requirements in terms of data collection and record-keeping are usually more stringent than state grants. That’s no surprise but what has come as a surprise to her is the short time frame from legislation to implementation on the local level.
“In the national press the outcry has been “Where’s the stimulus?’ and that has created a public perception that ARRA is a very slow moving process,” said Stewart. “But in government time it has been amazing to see a program created then funded and starting to actually disburse funds in just six months, especially on the federal level.”
The second bit of good news that arrived came to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in the form of a $9.2 million ARRA grant from the United States Department of Justice administered through Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The funds will cover salary and benefits for an additional 50 officers for three years.
Linda Gilbertson, JSO grants manager, said the application process was extensive and detailed.
“It didn’t just ask for police information. The entire City budget was part of the application,” she said. Other information for the grant application included data on City employees in terms of layoffs and furloughs and community demographics like what percent of Duval County’s population lives below the poverty level, how many people are unemployed and how many homes are in foreclosure.
Stewart pointed out the time frame for the federal funding of the salaries and benefits of the 50 officers and said, “After the fourth year, that cost is ours but we believe the City will be in a position to cover those salaries and benefits at that time.”
Commenting on the processes involved in applying for the grants and then administering the funds when they are awarded, Stewart said, “There is no free money from the federal government. These grants are incredibly prescribed and heavily monitored. There are many strings attached to these funds but those strings are there to protect the taxpayers.”
The $3.26 million in applications filed on behalf of Duval County is a number that will likely go up as more programs are introduced through ARRA. Other grants are also being pursued, said Stewart. The Jacksonville Public Library is joining forces with other public libraries in the state to apply for ARRA grants to fund projects related to Information Technology and ARRA has earmarked almost $2 billion for that initiative. Public libraries are also seeking ARRA education grants to advance scientific and engineering research.
Infrastructure projects are also on the list. The largest award to date for Duval County is a $29.8 million ARRA Highway Administration Funding Grant through the Florida Department of Transportation to widen Beach Boulevard to four lanes between Hodges Boulevard and San Pablo Road. That project will create more than 800 jobs and must be approved by the State Legislature but Stewart pointed out, “It’s a project that needs to be built and were it not for ARRA it would take years to get the funding.”
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