HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Hutchinson City Council will be asked to once again provide support 
funding for another transportation grant to help renovate another section of railway that the Amtrak SW Chief travels on during its regular meeting on Tuesday. It’s the second grant applied for by a coalition of cities and states that the passenger train serves.
In 2014, the City of Garden City submitted a grant application under the Tiger VI program on behalf of the Southwest Chief Rural Rail Partnership (SCRRP) to make repairs from Hutchinson to approximately the State line. The application was successful and the City of Hutchinson provided a match of $12,500 along with the other communities. In addition to the dollar matches from the other cites which totaled $50,000 other partners (Amtrak, KDOT) provided matching funds totaling $$7,000,000. The TIGER grant award totaled $12,469,963.
The next phase of the repairs are being proposed through Colorado. Due to the rural nature of the issue in Colorado, the city of La Junta is having difficulties recruiting support from various Colorado contingencies. It has been recommended that the Kansas Coalition members participate in providing some matching funds equal to our match dollars for TIGER VI. In order to retain the SW Chief traffic on the current route repairs would need to be made on the portions of track in Colorado and New Mexico as well. Fiscal Impact.
The City has committed approximately $35,000 over the past few years in support of the grant writing and lobbying efforts to secure the Tiger Grant. In 2014, the City of Hutchinson committed $12,500 towards the Tiger VI grant as a share of the Kansas Coalition match totaling $50,000. The Coalition of Kansas Cities are proposing that each City again provide a match of $12,500 for the Tiger VII grant application. Funds allocated to date from the City have been paid from the Economic Opportunity Fund (General Fund). The $12,500 grant match commitment would be allocated from the 2016 budget.