The Fort Wayne community will get at least $50 million from the federal stimulus bill, and possibly much more, but how that money will be spent largely remains undetermined.

The City Council received a report Tuesday on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from its Washington lobbyist. David Gogul of B&D Consulting told the council that although the bill was touted as one that would invest in the country’s infrastructure, it is a mixture of many items.

For example, of the $789 billion in the bill, $326 billion is for tax breaks, not government spending. Late last year, the city put together a list of 113 projects costing $281 million in anticipation of the bill.

“There’s very little connection between the initial wish list for the city and where the dollars ended up,” Gogul said.

For example, the city received $3.75 million for road improvement, far less than what Public Works Director Bob Kennedy expected.

“We have a lot of needs,” he said.

The city will use the money to resurface a few streets, including downtown.

The majority of the money coming to the community is for education, where Allen County school districts will get at least $26.5 million.

It also appears unlikely the federal money will help the city subsidize its $240 million federally mandated sewer project to keep raw sewage from flowing into area rivers. Matthew Wirtz, with City Utilities, said all the federal utility money was sent to the state, which decided to give half the money in grants and the other half in loans.

Because City Utilities customers pay a relatively low rate for sewer service, the city is not eligible for grant money. Based on his best projections, Wirtz said the city will get $4 million to $6 million in no-interest loans for sewer projects.

The city has yet to receive money from the recovery bill, Gogul said, and it likely could be applying for this money over the next several years. He said the $50 million for the community is reserved for area governments; the city, schools and others could get more in competitive grants.

For example, the police department applied for money for 29 officers, but there is enough federal money for only 6,000 officers nationwide, with applications for 30,000.

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