President John Adams once said: “Freedom cannot be protected unless there is general knowledge among the people who have the right and desire to know.”
More than 200 years later, Sen. Marco Rubio declared, “We need transparency in government spending.” In the spirit of these great leaders, I want to help you better understand something I’m often asked about: grants.
Every time the city receives a grant, we often hear people say, “It’s a waste of money,” and “It could be better spent on something else.” Unfortunately, even if you agree that you would like to use the funds to address another issue, you are not allowed to do so. According to Grants.gov:
“Recipients of federal grants are given funds to carry out the goals and objectives identified in the grant. These funds are subject to certain regulations, oversight, and audits.
• Grant recipients are custodians of federal funds.
• Grants must be used for their intended purpose.
• Grant recipients must consider costs and justify expenditures.
The use of federal aid for unjust enrichment or personal gain or for any purpose other than that purpose is a form of theft and is subject to criminal and civil prosecution under U.S. law. It becomes. ”
The same goes for state grants and grants from private foundations. Simply put, if you use your grant money for anything other than its intended purpose, you risk not only paying back the funds, but also fines and jail time.
You may be wondering, “Mayor, how do you decide which grants to apply for? And was the city successful in applying?”
First and foremost, we apply for grants that can meet the needs of our city and its citizens. Three areas of focus have been neighborhood revitalization (by eradicating blight and rehabilitating homes), security assistance, and infrastructure development. Through the receipt of several IHDA grants, we have demolished over 100 blighted buildings, helped dozens of families rehabilitate their homes, and significantly increased property values and quality of life for our neighbors. .
Through COPS and SAFER grants, we were able to hire more than a dozen additional police and firefighters to help improve public safety. A grant from DCEO allowed us to fix the intersection of Jackson and Voorhees. The IDOT award will allow repairs to be made to the Lynch Road bridge, and a nearly $10 million grant from FHWA will help repair much-needed roads on S. Bowman, E. Seminary, and various other roads in Vermilion County. You will be able to make any necessary repairs.
Next, apply for grants to address local wants and needs. Most of our parks are in need of major renovations. The 2019 OSLAD grant allowed us to completely redo Ellsworth Park, making it a premier destination for our community. With the addition of disc golf, other cities are now holding tournaments here as well. When a sewer line over Lake Vermilion had to be repaired, a grant of more than $1 million allowed us to build a beautiful pedestrian bridge that could be attached to the new sewer line, saving significantly more money and the sewer line itself. could save long-term wear and tear. Brownfield grants allow for the cleanup of environmentally compromised sites, such as portions of the Carle at the Riverfront, as well as the southeast corner of Vermilion and Fairchild. It will be. This would give them two acres of highly developable land at one of the busiest intersections in the county.
A $1 million forestry grant will allow us to remove hundreds of dangerous trees from public roads and plant thousands more. A $3 million grant to Downtown will help beautify the area and improve infrastructure while making it easier to navigate.
The grants listed above represent just a portion of the more than $60 million in grant revenue we have received over the past five years. By the way, our annual budget is approximately that amount. Our city team has been very successful in grant enforcement, and a variety of private, state, and federal grant providers have encouraged us to apply for grants or additional grants. I honestly couldn’t be more proud of the hard work they put into providing all of these resources to our people. There are countless other projects we were able to complete that would never have been possible without these additional resources.
We still have a long way to go, but thanks to the grant, we are able to make significant progress in making Danville an even better place to live, work, invest, and play.
