Shoveling out stimulus windfall

With $12 billion allocated for the state, communities vie for $1 billion to fix crumbling infrastructure

Brockton is seeking funds for nearly $200 million in projects, including Pleasant Street sidewalk repair. (Photos by Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)

The local construction wish lists are in. Now the real fight starts.

Communities and schools in the region are clamoring for roughly $1.5 billion in federal stimulus money for nearly 700 building projects, including roads and schools, information technology and energy.

Statewide, some $28 billion has been requested for about 8,000 projects.

But only about $1 billion for infrastructure will be available. The state expects to get an estimated $12 billion from the federal $787 billion package signed into law last week, but much of that will go to tax breaks, healthcare, education, and other costs.

That means the infrastructure pie is not nearly large enough to make everyone happy.

Some municipal officials are already resigned to the fact that their chances of seeing any money are slim, while others hope their legislators can help them out. Some are worried that state projects will get priority over local work.

"There's way more projects than money," said Brockton Mayor James E. Harrington.

Much remains uncertain about how the money will be spent or the process to be used to allocate funds. Governor Deval Patrick has appointed real estate developer Jeffrey A. Simon to supervise the ranking of proposals.

And while the stimulus package will create jobs in the short term, economists are split about the long-term impact. Some argue the money provides long-needed upgrades to infrastructure that will benefit business, and so the economy, in the long run. Others say overspending caused the problem, and spending more will only deepen the country's woes.

Almost every community in the area has floated at least one project; some have put forth more than a dozen. Projects range from $12,000 to replace a gate-card reader at Mansfield Municipal Airport to nearly $57 million for a road between routes 3 and 18, which would run through SouthField, the development underway at the former naval air station in South Weymouth.

"Our legislative delegation has worked hard for us, so I'm confident some will be funded," said Melissa Arrighi, the acting town manager in Plymouth. About 60 projects totaling $160 million have been proposed for the town, ranging from $3,000 for dredging to nearly $14 million for repaving streets.

"The real downside for communities is that whatever trickles down is a one-shot deal," said Harrington, who hopes to use stimulus money to revamp the downtown streets and sidewalks of Brockton. "It won't help with operational costs or the current budget situation."

Brockton, like most other communities in the Commonwealth, is struggling to weather state-aid cuts that have resulted in reductions in services and in layoffs in some places.

Local state colleges hope they are major beneficiaries of the stimulus windfall. Bridgewater State is seeking about $55 million, while Massasoit Community College wants about $68 million in construction costs for its campuses in Brockton and Canton.

Dick Cronin, spokesman for Massasoit, said the state's college system has been starved for capital improvements for decades. No buildings have been built on the Brockton campus since the 1970s, he said. At the same time, the college is booming, with record enrollment. This spring it has more than 7,200 students in day, evening, and weekend classes.

Construction money is supposed to be spent on "shovel-ready" projects, which means those set to start by the end of June. As the federal stimulus package was being voted on, the state released two lists - projects that are considered shovel-ready and another, far larger list not at that stage yet. Both lists face more reviews and will be whittled down significantly, said state officials.

Weeks before the stimulus package passed, the governor's office had encouraged local officials to send in projects that could be started quickly.

"It's very important for the process to be transparent and inclusive for local projects, and that it doesn't disproportionately provide money to state agencies and leave communities behind," said Geoffrey C. Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which works for the state's cities and towns.

Local economists differ on whether the stimulus package is going to help the economy.

Professor Robert Rosenthal, chairman of the economics department at Stonehill College in Easton, thinks the stimulus package is better than doing nothing. Giving jobs to construction workers is better than sending out checks that will be spent on "trinkets from China," he said. But he sees hard times ahead, with perhaps double-digit unemployment nationally in 2009.

Professor Jon Bryan of the department of management at Bridgewater State is skeptical about the plan. "It is very difficult to resolve a crisis caused by overspending and too much debt by additional spending and even more debt," he said. The country needs to think more long-term about investing, not spending, he said. He called the plan a "a Ponzi scheme of debt."

David G. Tuerck of Quincy, executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute, an economic think tank, said money that could have been spent building new factories will instead go to roads, providing, in effect, a welfare package for construction companies.

"It will be completely ineffective," he said. Wages, and home and stock prices need to find their bottom before there will be a recovery, he said.

State Senator Robert L. Hedlund likes the wish-list projects that concentrate on infrastructure, especially water and sewer projects, because they are so important, but he worries only a small amount of the stimulus money will go for those.

The Weymouth Republican considers some projects dubious, but declined to say which. "Some are worthy, some are a joke," he said. "Some do nothing except some minor short-term job creation, with long-term financial pain to pay this huge bill."

The process for doling out money is still hazy, but is beginning to take some shape. In the state Legislature, a temporary joint committee on federal stimulus oversight has been set up to coordinate efforts with the administration to maximize federal money given to the state.

State Senator Brian A. Joyce, a Milton Democrat on the 18-person committee, said the goal "is to make sure the money is spent as wisely and efficiently as possible."

Matt Carroll can be reached at mcarroll@globe.com.