Idaho Communities To Receive More Than $5.5 Million In Grant Funds

Molly Messick / StateImpact Idaho

Fairfield, above, and Twin Falls were among the many communities approved for grant funding.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has signed off on more than $5.5 million in grant awards to Idaho communities.

Otter followed the guidance of the Idaho Economic Advisory Council in his decisions, approving all 18 grant proposals that the council recommended for funding.

Twin Falls will receive $500,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant dollars to upgrade its water system.  That’s necessary to support the new Chobani yogurt plant.

Fairfield will also receive a half-million-dollar grant for water system improvements.  The full list of grant recipients is available here.

As StateImpact has reported, funding for the Community Development Block Grant Program has fallen by about a quarter over the last two years.  The program has about $10 million available for this year.  In this, the first of four rounds of funding decisions, more than half of that total has already been allocated.

As Idaho Department of Commerce Community Development Manager Bruce Porter said of the program earlier this month, “We run into more demand than dollars.”