City sanitation district nabs $420,595 grant for sewer line

City sanitation district nabs $420,595 grant for sewer line

Dec. 9, 2000

CORTEZ JOURNAL

The Cortez sewer system received a windfall from the state on Thursday, when Gov. Bill Owens announced that a $420,595 grant has been awarded to replace part of the Cortez sewer line.

The grant is part of $1,524,055 in Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance funds awarded for projects in the southwestern region of Colorado. The program helps communities offset the expenses associated with energy and mineral-development impacts and meet other community needs related to development.

The funds are generated from the state severance tax on oil, gas, carbon dioxide, coal and metals, and from the state’s share of royalties paid to the federal government for the extraction of minerals and mineral fuels on federally-owned land.

"Providing funding for these local communities is essential," said Owens in a press release. "I am pleased the state is able to assist these Colorado communities in providing needed services to their residents."

"Hundreds of projects have been made possible through the Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance program with severance taxes and mineral-lease royalties paid by the oil, gas and mining industries," said Bob Brooks, executive director of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

"These industries are important to the state and to the communities in which they are located. They not only provide the energy we rely on, provide local jobs and inject dollars into state and local economies, but through the taxes and royalties they pay into the Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance program, help local communities address other energy-related impacts."

Most of the projects that benefit from the program involve improvements to basic public facilities and infrastructure. During the most recent funding cycle, 23 projects statewide received more than $5 million in funding.

The grants and low-interest loans were made during the fall funding cycle. A nine-member state Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance Advisory Committee provides funding recommendations on requests being considered.