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N.C. will see $6 billion from Recovery Act
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Published: June 15, 2009
CHARLOTTE - With North Carolina facing a record budget shortfall -- and painful cuts everywhere -- Dempsey Benton may have the most enviable job in state government: giving away more than $6 billion.
Benton, 64, runs the state's Office of Economic Recovery and Investment, the agency that oversees distribution of federal stimulus money.
Along with Gov. Bev Perdue, he'll be in Charlotte Thursday for a workshop on the program at Central Piedmont Community College's Harris Center. They will explain how the state plans to use its share of the $787 billion federal stimulus, or recovery program.
"It's primarily to ... make sure people understand how the Recovery Act funding comes to North Carolina," Benton says. "Where there are opportunities for applications to be submitted, we're trying to help folks understand where those opportunities are."
Benton was Raleigh's longtime city manager before joining state government in 2001, most recently running the Department of Health and Human Services. In his new $98,500-a-year job, he oversees a 12-person staff and coordinates distribution of the federal money with other state agencies.
There's a lot of money to oversee in the program, designed to boost the economy and create or save more than 100,000 jobs in North Carolina.
$8 billion, 100,000 jobs
North Carolina is getting more than $8 billion. About $1.3 billion of that goes directly to individuals through programs such as food stamps; another $450 million goes to federal facilities such as Fort Bragg.
That leaves $6.3 billion for everything from roads to home weatherization.
The biggest chunk, $3.8 billion, is in so-called "stabilization funds." That money is going into the state budget to shore up areas such as education and Medicaid. It comes as an estimated $4.6 billion shortfall in tax revenues has lawmakers looking at deep spending cuts and tax hikes.
The rest of the recovery money, about $2.5 billion, is going to projects across the state. About 40 transportation projects are already under way. Others are in the pipeline. Last week, for example, Perdue announced more than $70 million for 21 urban transit systems, including nearly $21 million for
Charlotte Area Transit System's North Davidson Street bus facility.
"It's beginning to create some jobs with the transportation projects," said Rep. Joe Tolson, an Edgecombe County Democrat who chairs the House panel helping oversee the recovery money. "And the governor has used some to help with this year's budget."
Who's watching the store?
With so much money coming at once, Tolson said he has been concerned about accountability, particularly with programs such as weatherization. North Carolina is getting $132 million over three years to weatherize homes. That's at least four times more than normal.
Tolson has talked about the potential pitfalls at neighborhood meetings back home. He's told constituents to be on the lookout for bad work by contractors.
"I'm concerned about 'fly-by-nighters' and shoddy work being done," he said.
State Auditor Beth Wood has said her office will be stretched by the stimulus. She told nonprofit news site ProPublica last month that in order to audit stimulus spending, she may have to audit the state's 59 community colleges once every five years instead of once every other year.
Federal rules are loosening up more of the money for oversight and administrative costs. Benton acknowledges that his office will have to beef up oversight of programs such as weatherization. But he said agencies such as the departments of Transportation and Environment and Natural Resources already have the ability to oversee a lot of projects.
"We will be able to build on their capabilities," he said. "We've got some programs that are going to require some additional management capacity in place, and we're working on this."
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