A review of 52 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
projects directly affecting San Benito County shows that the total
investment of more than $12.6 million is forecasted to create fewer
than five new jobs, according to government records.
A NEWS ANALYSIS
A review of 52 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) projects directly affecting San Benito County shows that the total investment of more than $12.6 million is forecasted to create fewer than five new jobs, according to government records.
It is not possible to determine how many jobs these projects might save, but the bulk of ARRA money entering the county is being funneled into existing government and social-agency programs. Some programs, such as public transportation, have received heavy government subsidies in the past. This method supports spending methodologies already in place, but based on the low level of job creation, it is not clear that this strategy can revive or sustain future economic growth.
The information in this report was downloaded from Recovery.gov that invites the public to “Track the money.” The website can be accessed at www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx, but the basic displays provide only limited information. The site also links to the download center where complete reports can be retrieved. However, there is no analysis with the downloaded data.
Fifty-two ARRA projects – 48 grants and 4 contracts – were found that involve San Benito County in some form. The total “local value” listed when the projects are completed will be more than $12.6 million. There are probably more programs involving or affecting the county, but they cannot be easily identified and it is doubtful, based on the records retrieved to date, that they will create many sustainable jobs.
San Benito County entities are sub-recipients on all but six projects. That is similar to being a sub-contractor; sub-recipients have less control over how the money is used even within each program’s guidelines. The City of Hollister is both a prime-recipient and a sub-recipient on one public safety program.
To classify the ARRA spending, the Free Lance sorted the awards into six general program sectors. Some assignments were obvious, general education went into the education sector. Others, like school lunch programs, were more difficult to classify.
The funding goes to the schools, but we chose to place the programs in the social services sector based on their primary purpose. The transportation sector includes everything from buses to road repair. There is some overlap, but no duplication. The sector and local amounts funded are in Table 1 shown with this story.
There were 20 identified recipients of the 52 project awards. There will be more sub-recipients as the projects progress. The recipients, purposes, notes and local amounts are in Table 2.
There are some obvious questions on stimulus fund credits. If a company based in San Marcos builds picnic shelters that are delivered to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Hollister, how much of the contract should be considered economic stimulus to San Benito County? A more important question would be, how could picnic shelters, metal detectors or additional public funding of County Transit that already loses significant amounts of money help the economy that needs sustainable private sector jobs?
Stimulus spending is easily tailored for first-level effects. Road building provides income for the workers and suppliers. That first-level benefit is the same for a $5 million contract to ease the traffic jams in San Jose or for a road infrequently used. The same applies to picnic shelters or metal detectors. However, a road in the wrong location limits the second- and third-level benefits. Picnic shelters are, obviously, not a “must have” item for recovery and reinvestment – they do not add sustainability.
An analysis of a nearby government contract award provides an example. On May 26, 2010, the Federal Highway Administration awarded a $1.39 million dollar contract to a Lemoore company to do road repair for the BLM. This was not an ARRA stimulus contract, but the effects are the same.
The contract was to repair 7.7 miles of roads in the Panoche Hills Management Area near Mercy Hot Springs, resurface 2 miles of road in the South Cow Mountain Recreation Area a rugged region near Lake Mendocino and to replace six culverts in the Fort Ord Management Area.
How many public vehicles a month use that road in Panoche Hills and where are the critical second-level benefits? The tiny number of new jobs created would indicate that most of the ARRA funding in San Benito County could be characterized as government support, not economic stimulus.
Marty Richman writes a weekly column for the Free Lance on page A4.
Table 1:
San Benito County ARRA funding by sector
Education: $4,724,253
Social Services: $4,320,028
Transportation: $2,826,658
Public Safety: $380,560
Private Sector: $375,334
Environment: $61,808
Total : $12,688,641
Table 2:
Recipient
San Benito County – For public safety, social services, highways, emergency management system, displaced workers, education of homeless, special needs, at-risk children and general education: $5,157,292
Hollister School District – For education of homeless children, school lunch program, general education and vocational rehabilitation: $2,261,998
San Benito High School District – For education of at-risk children and general education: $1,283,260
Hollister Downtown Association – For road repairs: $1,226,091
San Benito Health Foundation – For healthcare, adding 4.73 personnel (including a Pediatrician), equipment, a treatment room and vaccinations: $803,180
Aromas-San Juan Unified School Dist. – For school lunch program, childcare financial assistance, educations of at-risk children, and general education: $573,759
EDL Construction, Inc. – A San Marcos firm for “Recovery Picnic shelters and Triosks” for the Hollister Bureau of Land Management (BLM): $375,334
San Benito County Local Transportation Authority – For vehicles, terminals, fare collection systems, security equipment, signs, park-and-ride lots, bus shelters, communications, etc…, maintenance and to provide assistance for ADA-required paratransit: $374,475
North County Joint Union School District – For education of at-risk children and general education: $241,107
Southside Elementary School – For education of homeless children and general education: $85,375
California Department of Aging – For Elderly Meals Programs to feed seniors in need and to restore nutrition services and local food service positions: $75,666
City of Hollister – Part of a $96,834 award for the Hollister PD, Sheriff’s Office, and Probation. Purchase two police patrol vehicles, four hand-held portable radios, and equipment for four All Terrain Vehicles, digital cameras, and a walk-through metal detector: $75,280
