House Bill No. 11

Introduced By zook

By Request of the Department of Commerce and the Office of Budget and Program Planning



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act appropriating money to the department of commerce for financial assistance to local government infrastructure projects under the treasure state endowment program; authorizing grants from the treasure state endowment special revenue account; placing conditions upon grants; authorizing treasure state endowment program loans to be administered by the department of natural resources and conservation; and providing effective dates."



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



NEW SECTION. Section 1.  Appropriations from the treasure state endowment special revenue account. (1) There is appropriated to the department of commerce the interest earnings of the treasure state endowment special revenue account to finance grants authorized by this section.

(2) The funds appropriated in this section must be used by the department to make grants to the local government entities listed in subsection (3) for the described purposes and in amounts not to exceed the amounts set out in subsection (3). The appropriations are subject to the conditions set forth in [sections 1 through 3] and described in the treasure state endowment program January 1997 report to the 55th legislature. The legislature, pursuant to 90-6-710, approves the grants listed in subsection (3), in the order indicated in the list of projects. The department shall award funds up to the amounts approved in this section based on the manner of disbursement set forth in [section 3] until available funds are expended. The department shall provide funds not accepted or used by local governments to other local governments whose projects have been authorized for grants as listed in subsection (3). When additional funds become available for the grants listed in subsection (3), they must be awarded to projects as set forth in [section 3].

(3) The following are the authorized projects for grants in the order of their priority:

Applicant/Project Matching Grant

1. Cascade (wastewater) $500,000

2. Fort Peck Water and Sewer Dist. (water) 500,000

3. Terry (wastewater) 500,000

4. Judith Gap (wastewater) 130,000

5. Glendive (water) 500,000

6. Twin Bridges (water) 500,000

7. East Missoula (wastewater) 500,000

8. Glasgow (wastewater) 441,443 500,000

9. Helena (wastewater) 500,000

10. Richey (water) 264,340

11. Hill County/Box Elder (wastewater) 462,000

12. Valier (wastewater) 500,000

13. Roundup (wastewater) 500,000

14. Lewis and Clark County (bridge) 64,125

15. Hamilton (wastewater) 500,000

16. Missoula/Neighborhood (wastewater) 500,000

17. Chinook (water) 313,555

18. Fort Benton (water) 480,244

19. Miles City (water) 136,000

20. Lakeside (water) 500,000

21. Neihart (water) 261,028

22. Coram (water) 500,000

23. Chouteau County/Highwood (water/wastewater) 420,000

24. Billings/Neighborhood (wastewater) 280,000

25. Jefferson County (solid waste) 128,915

26. Red Lodge (water) 500,000

27. Chester (water) 417,000

28. Hardin (water/storm drain) 350,000

29. Thompson Falls (water) 400,000

30. Big Timber (wastewater) 500,000

31. Ekalaka (wastewater) 85,150

32. Culbertson (wastewater) 313,259

33. Great Falls/Neighborhood (water) 440,000

34. Bainville (water) 360,000

35. Harlem (water/wastewater) 472,920

(4) If sufficient funds are available, this section constitutes a valid obligation of funds to the entities listed in subsection (3) for purposes of encumbering the treasure state endowment special revenue account funds received during the 1999 biennium under 17-7-302. However, a local government's entitlement to receive funds is dependent on the local government's compliance with the conditions described in [section 3] and on the availability of funds.



NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Approval of grants -- completion of appropriation. (1) The legislature, pursuant to 90-6-701, approves grants for the projects identified in [section 1(3)].

(2) The approval of these grants completes an appropriation from the special revenue account provided for in 17-5-703(4)(b).



NEW SECTION. Section 3.  Conditions and manner of disbursement of grant funds. (1) The disbursement of grant funds under [sections 1 through 3] for the grants specified in [section 1(3)] is subject to the following conditions:

(a) The local government recipient must have a scope of work and budget for the project approved by the department. The department may not approve amendments to the scope of work or budget affecting priority activities or improvements that would materially alter the intent and circumstances under which the application was originally ranked by the department and approved by the legislature.

(b) The local government recipient shall document that other matching funds required for completion of the project have been firmly committed before the disbursement of the funds appropriated in [section 1].

(c) The local government recipient must have satisfactorily complied with any conditions described in the recommendation section of the project narrative in the treasure state endowment program project evaluations and recommendations report submitted to, and approved by the 55th legislature, and with conditions specified by the department in the notification of grant approval.

(d) The local government recipient must have executed a grant agreement with the department.

(e) The local government recipient must have satisfied other specific requirements considered necessary by the department to accomplish the purpose of the project as evidenced by the application to the department.

(2) The department shall disburse grant funds in the order of priority listed in [section 1] and subject to the conditions in subsection (1), as treasure state endowment special revenue account interest income is received during the 1999 biennium.

(3) A project approved in [section 1] may not receive grant funds until sufficient revenue has been deposited in the treasure state endowment special revenue account and is available for that purpose.

(4) The department shall disburse funds as they become available each quarter in the order of priority, for projects that have met the conditions in subsection (1), until all available funds are expended.

(5) In the event that construction bids received for a project are for an amount lower than the projected cost of the project, the department shall establish a final project budget at the bid price, plus a 10% contingency. The department may, at its discretion, reduce the amount of funding to be provided in proportion to all other project funding sources. In the alternative, the department may authorize the construction of additional, directly related project components to enhance the overall project, in amounts not to exceed the originally approved project budget.

(6) The department shall disburse grant funds on a reimbursement basis as grantees incur eligible project costs.



NEW SECTION. Section 4.  Approval of treasure state loans. The legislature approves four treasure state endowment program loans for treasure state endowment program projects to be administered by the department of natural resources and conservation pursuant to House Bill No. 8.



NEW SECTION. Section 5.  Effective dates. (1) [Sections 2 through 4 and this section] are effective on passage and approval.

(2) [Section 1] is effective July 1, 1997.

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