Applications will be accepted until March 19 for a new round of federal Department of Transportation infrastructure project funding. In announcing the funding’s availability, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “Now is the time to make lasting investments in our nation’s infrastructure.” In a statement, Buttigieg added that the Transportation Department was committed to “not just rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, but building back in a way that positions American communities for success in the future.” Funding through Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, otherwise known as INFRA, discretionary grants can range in size from $5 million to $25 million. By law, 10% of all available funds must go for small projects. In addition, the DOT is committed to awarding 25% of funding for rural-based projects. The DOT will additionally place an emphasis on any proposed infrastructure project located in an Opportunity Zone or Empowerment Zone. Priority will also be given to projects in Promise Zones, high poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to spur economic activity, or Choice Neighborhoods, which also leverage public and private dollars for neighborhood development. Buttigieg said the DOT is unveiling what is called an INFRA Extra Program, designed to identify competitive INFRA applications that fell short of obtaining a discretionary grant and authorizing them instead to seek a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan, which could in some instances pay up to 49% of a project’s cost. INFRA grants typically fund a wide array of highway, railway, and intermodal projects. Last year a $60.7 million grant was awarded for a project seeing improvements to Interstate 70 in Engle County, Colorado. That project includes improvements to I-70 between mile post 180 and 190, the construction of an eastbound auxiliary lane, and the reconstruction of a bridge going over the Polk Creek. By Garry Boulard
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A tax law that has been on the books, to the annoyance of many businesses since 1982, may soon be discarded by members of the Colorado General Assembly. Governor Jared Polis has called for doing away with a business personal property tax that requires businesses to pay a tax on all equipment, even if the equipment in question was purchased long ago and is no longer used. In getting rid of the tax, Polis has told lawmakers that they will be “reducing paperwork” and protecting tens of thousands of small businesses “from onerous tax requirements.” “This will save small businesses time and money and let them focus on what matters: their customers, their services, and their products,” the Governor continued. In 2017 state lawmakers passed legislation allowing businesses to receive a tax credit that would be equal to the business personal property taxes, but only for taxes paid on the first $18,000 in property value. Previously, Colorado has also allowed for businesses with $7,400 or less in equipment to not have to pay the tax. If the tax is not done away with entirely, Polis said he is open to raising the $7,400 cap in order to provide greater leeway for businesses. He has also indicated an interest in raising the $18,000 cap for credit. The move to get rid of the business personal property tax is proving more popular with lawmakers in the wake of a vote last November that repealed the Gallagher Amendment, which required non-residential properties to pay for 55% of all property taxes in the state. By a nearly two-to-one margin, voters agreed to do away with that Gallagher law. As a result local governments in Colorado are now no longer as dependent as they once were on revenue from the business personal property tax. By Garry Boulard The 243-acre campus of New Mexico Junior College, located around 5 miles to the northwest of the city of Hobbs in the southeastern corner of the state, may soon see extensive work planning, designing, and constructing a series of shade structures and vestibules. The New Mexico Higher Education Department has submitted a capital outlay request of just over $1.7 million for the work at the school to lawmakers meeting in the winter session of the state legislature. That request is one of two dozen individual capital outlay requests from the Higher Education Department this year, totaling just over $9 million. At $1.7 million, the shade structures and vestibules work is the largest individual higher education project request lawmakers will review, with the second largest, at $1.3 million, also belonging to NMJC: the upgrading of the school’s Watson Hall on the north side of the campus. That building houses classrooms and offices as well as a theater. Other higher education capital outlay requests include $868,000 for HVAC system replacement and installation in the North Campus Gym of the Dine College in Shiprock; as well as $500,000 to plan, design, and build the infrastructure of the Workforce Training Center at Central New Mexico Community College. Another $500,000 is pegged for the planning, design, and construction of emergency management and fire suppression systems at Santa Fe Community College. The smallest higher education request is for $20,000 to purchase and install equipment for Luna Community College’s welding program located on the school’s Mora campus. By Garry Boulard The federal budget deficit is on track to be the second largest since the end of World War II, a new study from the Congressional Budget Office is reporting. In its Budget and Economic Outlook: 2021 to 2031 report, the CBO notes that deficits already in place in early 2020 have only “widened significantly as a result of the economic disruption caused by the pandemic and the enactment of legislation in response.” The CBO is now forecasting historic annual deficits averaging around $1.2 trillion for every year leading up to 2031, exceeding an average of 3.3% of Gross Domestic Product in place since the early 1970s. In fact, that figure is expected to stay at around 4% of GDP between 2023 and 2027, before heading upward again to 5 % by the year 2031. Measured against the CBO’s last general predictions issued in September, the estimate for this year’s deficit is, at $448 billion, roughly 25% larger. The CBO report is also predicting an increase in the federal debt, equaling 107%, which, says the document, would be the “highest in the nation’s history.” Conversely, projected outlays relative to GDP are expected to decline if low interest rates prevail and the unprecedented federal spending on coronavirus relief efforts tapers off. The agency also sees unemployment decreasing to 5.3% by the end of this year, down from a high of nearly 15% last spring. In a somewhat bullish scenario, the CBO study additionally notes that GDP is expected to grow this year by some 3.7% as an “expanded vaccination reduces the spread of Covid-19.” Moreover, growth will generally average around 2.6% in the next four years, with the unemployment rate gradually declining between now and 2026. By Garry Boulard In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions Denver may soon mandate that all new houses built in the city must include all-electric heat. What is called the Net-Zero Energy New Buildings & Homes Implementation Plan will implement net-zero building standards for all homes beginning in 2024. The ambitious plan will also by 2027 include office buildings, with the goal of having all such structures “free from natural gas” within the decade. The plan has been in development for past months by the city’s Climate Action, Resiliency & Sustainability office. But before it can be implemented, the plan must be reviewed first by a building code task force, before moving on to the Denver City Council later this year. The Climate Action office has earlier stated that by the year 2050, Denver’s grid will be 100% renewable, noting that buildings are a crucial element in that transformation. By Garry Boulard The construction and upgrading of streets, bridges and sidewalks in El Paso will launch later this year due to $93 million in certificates of obligations. Members of the El Paso City Council have given their approval to beginning the certificates process, which will also fund new sidewalks and pathways, as well as athletic field lighting, swimming pools, and spray parks. The certificates are used as a result of a Texas law passed in 1971 allowing cities and municipalities to fund any number of projects without having to first seek voter approval. Such certificates have proven particularly timely when work needs to be financed quickly, as in disaster recovery projects. Those certificates are a financing tool also available to health and hospital districts. In a presentation before the El Paso council it was noted that the city has plans for investing some $47 million this year on infrastructure projects, with another $80 million forecast by 2023. Additional El Paso projects expected to be funded by the certificates include both library and museum facility work, as well as new public restrooms. The El Paso City Council is scheduled to meet on April 13 to finalize the ordinances authorizing the certificates of obligation. By Garry Boulard The use of small cell and 5G technologies is expected to increase this year as one of a handful of the most prominent technology trends helping public works professionals, says a new industry survey. According to the Kansas City-based American Public Works Association, the rapidly expanding use of 5G technologies not only provide improved access to emergency responders, they also allow professionals in public works and other fields to “make smarter decisions in real time.” After surveying nearly 6,000 professionals in the public works field, the APWA additionally identified both asset management technologies and geographic information systems as needed tools used to “assist public works professionals in developing and preparing short and long-term infrastructure and financial plans.” The survey also identified virtual public engagement technologies, now more than ever in a Covid-19 world used for conducting meetings, as a vital new trend and one that is cost effective “compared to traditional methods.” As a best practice, the survey additionally sees the integration of all of these technologies as an equally important trend, one that “identifies data and how to best leverage it to achieve desired service levels and enable greater accountability, reporting, and efficiency.” In a statement, Scott Grayson, chief executive officer of the APWA, noted the importance of identifying “trending technologies that best help public works professionals deliver countless critical services we all rely upon daily.” In its 2020 survey, the APWA identified 3-D technologies, automated vehicles, cybersecurity infrastructure, technology for field crews, and the move toward reducing waste generation as the country’s most important new trends. By Garry Boulard Looking at an unanticipated budget surplus of around $4 billion, Colorado Governor Jared Polis has unveiled a sweeping stimulus plan that includes roughly $200 million for any number of transportation infrastructure projects. “We’re going to make it easier for Coloradoans and visitors to travel our great state, accessing the ski resorts and public lands that we love, while reducing traffic and improving our vibrant, beloved main streets in the process,” Polis said in introducing his proposals. In what is an overall $1.3 billion stimulus plan, Polis wants to see $130 million targeting rural road and bridge upgrades classified as “shovel ready.” Because of its status as one of the top growth states in the country, enjoying a 16% population increase in the last decade, Colorado has also been seeing a commensurate increase in the use of its highways and roads. The growth has been most pronounced in the eastern slice of the state with roads and bridges that are a part of Interstate 70 in the most need of upgrading and new construction. Polis additionally called on lawmakers to approve $140 million for clean energy project loans, along with another $120 million to build out Colorado’s broadband infrastructure. “I look forward to working with you to accelerate electrification, expand multimodal transit options, save commuters money on gas, reduce emissions, and improve air quality,” Polis continued. Polis has also repeatedly emphasized his goal of wanting to see the state’s electricity grid run entirely on renewable resources in the next two decades. The Governor’s budget proposals are now being reviewed by the Colorado State Legislature, which will be in session until May 12. By Garry Boulard With more than two dozen unique locations nationally, the Tempe-based Carvana wants to expand to Albuquerque. The company, regarded in the business press as the fastest-growing car dealership in the country, has plans to build a 76 foot-tall tower at 3800 Pan American Freeway NE, off of Interstate 25. The project, which is expected to cost around $5 million to build, will, like many of the other Carvana facilities, feature a sleek and modernistic steel and glass design. Carvana’s first Albuquerque location comes just weeks after the company announced plans to build a similar 75 foot-tall tower with 8 stories in Denver. That project could see construction later this year. In November, the company unveiled a 12-story vending machine structure in Atlanta—its tallest such structure to date. Launched in 2012, Carvana is changing the business model for car dealerships by offering its vehicles and handling the all of the financing online. After making a purchase, customers arrive at the tower, otherwise known as a Carvana Car Vending Machine, where a token is inserted into the building before the vehicle is lowered and driven away. The proposed new Albuquerque location, with construction likely to start this summer, is awaiting city review. By Garry Boulard Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer has introduced legislation that could, if passed, increase the power of union organizing in the workplace. “I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing this legislation to put more money into the pockets of hard-working Americans,” Schumer said of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. The New York Senator added that the bill would create a “foundation that provides livable wages to our families.” As proposed, what is known as the Pro Act will amend the National Labor Relations Act by requiring workers to pay union membership dues even if they don’t want to. In so doing, the act would invalidate long-standing laws in right-to-work states. Should workers opt not to pay those dues, they could be fired under what is called a “union security clause.” The legislation will additionally alter collective bargaining procedures: if a union and employer are not able to come to terms during contract negotiations, the Pro Act will make it possible for a federal arbitrator to step in and determine the framework for continued negotiations. In a statement, Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of the Association General Contractors, characterized the Pro Act as “anti-worker, anti-privacy, and anti-recovery.” Sandherr added that the bill “threatens workers’ absolute right to a free, fair, and secret union ballot.” Glenn Spender, senior vice president with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, was similarly critical, describing the legislation as a “grab bag of harmful practices that would deprive millions of workers of their privacy and fundamentally alter our nation’s system of labor relations.” But Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said the Pro Act will ultimately “strengthen workers’ ability to come together and demand a fair share of the wealth we create—boosting wages, securing better health care, and rooting out discrimination.” The legislation is currently under review in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, as well as the House Committee on Education and Labor. By Garry Boulard |
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