City Gets $14 Million in ART Money - Sort Of

Calm down everyone, the city still hasn't gotten any real ART project money from the feds.

On Monday, Mayor Tim Keller announced that the Federal Transit Administration had agreed to reimburse the city for $14 million in construction expenses related to ART. That money is from a previously approved federal grant to the city for street improvements.

It was not any of the $75 million that the city has requested from the FTA's Small Starts program. And as, Keller said on Monday, the city could still be out that $75 million because the FTA still hasn't decided whether to approve the Small Starts grant.

Keller said the FTA has said it will decide by early fall on whether to approve the $75 million grant.

Here's a breakdown of the funding sources for ART:

Total cost of project: $133.7 million

Previous federal grants: $31.33 million

Small Starts program: $75 million

Previously approved city money: $27.31 million

It means that the city had $58.6 million, or 44 percent, of the total cost of the project on hand in the form of previously approved federal grants and city bond and other tax money.

The $75 million Small Starts grant that the feds have yet to approve comes to 56 percent of ART's total cost.