How will Lake County benefit from the stimulus
With a federal stimulus bill in place, local entities are scrambling for a piece of the action. The hurdle is knowing what's eligible and how to apply.
"They're still writing the rules," said Dave Young, president of Lake County Partners, the county's economic development arm. "We're looking at a number of different pots of monies."
"Now what?" has become a familiar question for communities and other agencies that want to get on the list, so to speak, for when the stimulus spigot opens. Because the package has so many targets, such as roads, transit, energy, water and sewer and education, the challenge has been getting to the right place for consideration.
"It's more than pretty confusing," agreed state Rep. Kathy Ryg.
The Vernon Hills Democrat has been directing consituents to http://recovery.illinois.gov.
"We don't want people wasting time getting to us (legislators)," Ryg said. "Their first priority is what state agency oversees this."
A message from Gov. Pat Quinn explains the new state Web site was created to quickly share information and ensure "that every deserving project in Illinois can capture and use its fair share of federal stimulus funds." The site includes a link to suggest projects.
"My sense is they'll get tons of stuff but will parcel it out where it belongs," Ryg said.
Round Lake Beach has three projects totaling about $3.5 million village officials believe qualify for stimulus funds. Village Administrator David Kilbane said he has covered the bases.
"It's kind of a broad-based approach," he said. The village has sent requests to the appropriate state and federal legislators, and has been monitoring the Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Web sites.
"We've put these (projects) all together on the list and we're sending them out to wherever we're told to send them," he said. "Right now, we've positioned ourselves to be in the stream."
Lake County Administrator Barry Burton said some of the money is formula-based and communities are entitled to funding from those sources. Grants and loans are other types of available funding.
"We have different teams within the county that are looking at and evaluating these grants as the rules come out, which is the key," Burton said.
Some agencies, such as IEPA, are taking preliminary applications for projects. In that case, federal stimulus funds would put more money in an existing pot and accelerate what can be done, Young said.
But not all processes are the same, and Lake County Partners is considering hosting a forum on the stimulus bill.
"We're literally trying to figure out how to get our hands around this and provide a service to Lake County," he said.
Ryg said that would be a good idea, but it should happen quickly.
"The one thing is it's moving out as we speak," she said of the stimulus program. "They can't wait to learn more. They have to learn more now."