PAUL SCHRAG: HOP ABOARD TACOMA >>>

Well Tacoma, help is on the way. Federal help to jumpstart our economy, that is. City of Tacoma has a list of projects, funding pipelines and targets that will be invested in as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And the Weekly Volcano got its hands on the list of the Tacoma’s priorities and proposals. A quick glance actually inspires some hope.

For those who don’t know, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a massive federal effort to jumpstart the nation’s economy, create and/or save millions of jobs, and patch up some of the damage done to our economy by greedy business people, government agencies and everyone else you feel like blaming. It aims to make these repairs with huge infusions of federal tax dollars, which cities such as Tacoma are allowed to apply for through various agencies put in charge of handing it all out.

The 14-page document contains a laundry list of projects the city would like to/plans to undertake with the help of these federal dollars, and almost all of them have awesome, reassuring names - from so-called Neighborhood Stabilization Programs to Homelessness Prevention Fund dollars. Some of the money noted is all but on its way, awaiting approval and dispersal by the various agencies that have been put in charge of managing our rescue money.

An estimated $772,000 would come in the form of Community Development Block Grant funds. Potential projects noted in city documents include Metropolitan Development Council’s Tacoma Detox Center to the tune of $149,056; fixing hazardous sidewalks, or at least as many of them as we can with $100,000; and money for affordable housing programs overseen by the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority. It is important to note that project suggestions do not mean that money is already designated. They’re just suggestions. So-called Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds would total a little over $3 million, and be used for several purposes. Among them are $750,000 to create a revolving loan fund to help people with modest incomes buy foreclosed homes; $1.5 million to help people with better incomes buy other foreclosed homes; and $833,000 to provide down payment assistance for other homes in foreclosure.

Nearly $1.2 million is slated to be used to create a Homelessness Prevention Fund and Emergency Shelter Grant Program. That money would be used by competitively-selected contractors to provide financial assistance and services that would help low-income families from becoming homeless. Those who have become homeless would receive help getting back on their feet. Mechanisms would include housing relocation, credit counseling, deposits, rent and utility payments and moving costs, for example. All of that money must be contracted out by the end of September.

Law enforcement grants would put money into expanding the city’s Crime Analysis Unit, including hiring of two full-time crime analysts, who usually spend their time analyzing arrest data and crime trends. Another $120,000 would go towards a Truancy Prevention Program, with the goal of reducing crime rates and gang activity during school hours. Other priorities for law enforcement grant dollars include $200,000 for the city’s Domestic Violence Advocacy Program; nearly $100,000 for a Youth Violence Prevention Program, which looks like it would be used for curfew enforcement and to bust up parties; $44,000 to expand the Business Improvement Area bike patrol program; $50,000 to fund DUI emphasis patrols; and $43,500 to buy digital voice recorders for police investigators.

That’s not all of it, Tacoma, and the way this money will trickle down is likely to evolve, says Elly Walkowiak, project manager for the City of Tacoma. But fear not. Help is on the way.

“It’s constantly evolving,” says Walkowiak. “The beauty of part of it is that local governments are able to determine their own priorities and invest the funds where they’re most needed on the local level.”