Jeffrey Simon, Massachusetts’ director of infrastructure investments, told a roomful of Bay State developers this morning "a lot of good (infrastructure) projects won’t get funded" with federal stimulus money.
Simon told a NAIOP forum that although Massachusetts is in line to reap $8.7 billion in stimulus funds, along with an additional $5.3 billion in tax benefits, just $2 billion is earmarked for transportation projects. By contrast, Simon has a $27 billion wish list of projects sitting on his desk.
"There just plain isn’t enough money," to fund all of the state’s projects, Simon said.
Simon said that on many fronts the Patrick administration is still awaiting federal guidelines on how the $787 billion federal spending package can be applied.
The legislation carries "a tremendously high set of expectations," he said. He compared the legislation to a photograph in a developing tray, saying, "The details are starting to come into focus, it’s becoming clearer and clearer."
One thing is clear, according to Simon: Massachusetts wants, and expects to get, more money in the coming months. The feds, he said, "have made it absolutely clear that they intend to claw back and redistribute money" that’s not spent under 120- and 180-day "use it or lose it" deadlines.
"Governor Patrick intends to be on the receiving end of that formula," Simon told the NAIOP meeting. "We will not leave a dollar or a dime on the table."
Jeff Mullan, the state’s undersecretary for transportation said, "No final decisions have been made" on the bulk of infrastructure funding. Any project that contends for funding must be vetted by a metropolitan planning agency and be eligible for federal aid under normal circumstances, according to Mullan.
"It needs to be a significant road that serves the regional economy," he said.
The state hasn’t made a final call on much-watched projects like Assembly Square in Somerville, SouthField in Weymouth and Westwood Station in Westwood.
Weymouth’s parkway is "on some lists," Mullan said, adding that it may face problems because the project had previously identified a funding mechanism, through bonding. Only new, un-funded projects are eligible for stimulus money. Westwood, he added, is "not in the system, but it’s being evaluated."
