HURST -- In this fairly average, All-American city, people are annoyed by the government's bickering, politicking and spendthrift ways.
Young and old, Republican and Democrat and independent, on a normal day they stop by the post office, shoot pool at the senior center and browse at the library. Yet as politicians try to hash out a new U.S. debt ceiling, the outlook here runs from bleak to angry."Congress is acting like a bunch of children," said Tom Jenkins, a 68-year-old self-described conservative, while holding a cue stick at the Hurst senior center. "I've just about lost faith in our political" system.Harry Keir's solution: Raise taxes.The 69-year old Democrat said Congress needs to address "just the problem, which is raising the debt limit, and do it instead of holding it hostage to every congressman's own pet idea."But if Congress comes up with a plan to control deficits, it's federal cash coursing into middle-class places like Hurst that could be on the line. Because even here, there's quite a menu of federal programs that help people eat, work, drive, buy homes and occasionally get a nice haircut.This in a city that, in Tarrant County, may be uniquely average. In per capita income, mortgage payments, household size, holders of college degrees and more, Hurst is the Tarrant city that falls closest to national norms, according to information culled from the census.From a city hall point of view, Hurst really isn't "all that dependent" on federal money, said Clay Caruthers, city finance director.The numbers bear that out. In fiscal 2010, federal grants to city government totaled $167,220. That was about one-third of 1 percent of citywide costs. This year, the city's operations budget is about $65 million.The city estimates it will receive nearly $1.4 million in notable federal grants this year, including a grant for the Cotton Belt trail.Yet it's hard to find a corner of the city that doesn't benefit from federal infusions.Growth fueled by BellHurst's federal ties date back almost to the city's incorporation in 1952, when it had a population of 2,700. During the next five years, the population almost doubled, and the city notes on its website that "one of the main catalysts for this ... boom was the opening of the $3 million Bell Helicopter plant." Since then the city has grown to 37,337, according to census figures.While Textron's Bell Helicopter is not technically in Hurst -- a spokesman was quick to point out that the headquarters is in Fort Worth -- the plant location along Hurst's southern border made the city a magnet for defense workers, who spend some of their pay at the mall and on groceries and cars.A Bell spokesman was mum on how much taxpayer money the company gets. But the company has received hundreds of millions of dollars a year in federal contracts and grants. In June 2010, for example, Bell landed a $546 million Navy contract for work to be done at its plants here and in Amarillo.It's hard to find tallies for many of the other federal programs that may benefit people in Hurst.The city's website notes that people with property in flood plains might qualify for federal money to pay 75 or 90 percent of the cost of elevating their building above flood level or qualify for federal flood insurance, which is subsidized.Hurst may also have received some of billions in federal housing assistance that government reports show has flowed to Texas. But a breakdown wasn't available.Tammy Hardy benefited from some federal housing money; some might begrudge her that freebie.Her home is in the 700 block of Willow Street. A few years ago she was earning $10,000 a year as a bartender and taking care of her grandson, then age 14. They lived under a leaky roof of an $87,500 house. Duct tape stretched across a hole in one of her windows.Hardy applied for a federal rehab grant -- worth $18,125 -- through Tarrant County that rebuilt her roof, installed new windows and repaired the bathroom shower.Now she's running a catering business out of the nonleaking home."This was a godsend to me," she said, adding that people who say "Cut, cut, cut ... aren't based in reality. They're making maybe $80,000 or $250,000 or [are] millionaires. They're not in the same position. It's wrong and misguided an attempt to cut in the wrong place."Other Hurst residents catch the commuter rail near the Bell plant, start businesses with aid from the Small Business Administration, or benefit from adoption assistance programs.Programs rely on fundsA number of programs that might be classified as social welfare benefit vulnerable populations.About $84,000 in federal cash recently helped the Alliance for Children run programs for abused children and occasionally use the services of a forensic investigator. One office that benefits is Hurst's center on Grapevine Highway."If that money went away, we would not be able to serve our clients," said Kim Rocha, center coordinator for the Hurst office, which helps children throughout Northeast Tarrant County.Similarly, Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County has, for the past nine months or so, delivered 28,801 meals to 146 Hurst residents. By year's end, roughly 36,000 meals will be delivered. Meals on Wheels in 2010 received federal grants totaling $1.9 million. Such money is crucial, said Carla Jutson, executive director.Without state and federal money, private donations (about 40 percent of the organization's revenue) and other funding are harder to come by, Jutson said.Federal dollars also play a significant role at Cook Children's Northeast Hospital in Hurst.The facility, with about 20 beds for overnight stays, an emergency room and imaging technologies, provides care for children throughout the area, said Tim Hanners, senior vice president of corporate and community affairs.It is not inexpensive. But Medicaid -- a program with costs shared by the state and federal governments -- helps cover costs. From 2008 to 2010, Medicaid costs at the Hurst hospital were $34.7 million. "Even in an area like Hurst, government funding plays a vital role in the care for children and can make a big impact on the amount of care we are able to provide," Hanners said.To make significant changes in federal balance sheets, Congress could have to target some of the major federal initiatives benefiting places like Hurst. Even Medicare and Social Security, experts say, can't be off the table. About 5,550 people in Hurst are 65 and older, according to the 2010 Census.Costly road workDay after day, year after year, drivers from Hurst and elsewhere are now getting a little extra something, not exactly free, not exactly costing them, when they drive down Precinct Line Road.In April 2010, six lanes of Precinct Line Road were opened from Airport Freeway to Texas 26. Cost: $9.8 million -- 80 percent of which was paid for by the federal government (in turn paid for by gas taxes).That amount, of course, is minuscule compared with the traffic monster that is being clawed out of the ground: the remake of Texas 121/183 known as North Tarrant Express.The Texas Department of Transportation is providing $573 million in public funds for the 13.3-mile project, with about 80 percent of that --$454 million -- from the federal government, said agency spokesman Tony Hartzel. (Another $600 million in federally backed loans and private activity bonds are among several means of financing the project.)While it is difficult to calculate the cost of Hurst's portion, the two or three miles of pavement won't be cheap.Brandi Griffin, 31, a student at Tarrant County College Northeast Campus in Hurst, questions why so much is being spent on roads."I'm from California," she said. "I drive this way sometimes during traffic. ... It's not as bad as California. Maybe when it gets that bad they can start building roads."But Griffin, who receives federal Pell grants to help pay for her college costs, defends federal spending that helps people obtain college degrees."It's been very important to me," she said. "Otherwise I would not be able to be a student here or anywhere else."For the 2010-11 academic year at the Hurst campus, federal aid amounted to $23.8 million in Stafford loans and Pell grants, college officials said. Even a local beauty school offers federal financial aid for its beauticians-to-be.Jacqueline Maki, associate vice chancellor in the Office of Grants Development and Compliance for TCC, believes the deficit needs to be reduced. But she winces at one potential cut -- teacher training grants, which total about $90,000 for the entire college."That's the first thing on the chopping block as the federal budget is being pared down to help reduce our deficit," she said. "It's a very meager investment that pays off big time when these students are able to get employed."Education fundingVicki Jones, who is in her 50s, doesn't understand why the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district receives so much federal money. Jones, dropping by the post office by the Hurst library, said, "We're taxed to death."I think it's time to do something about the deficit instead of piling on more debt."School district officials estimate that schools in the Hurst city limits -- a high school, junior high and several elementaries -- took in last year or will get this year a total of $5.4 million in federal money.That includes $1.7 million in expected federal food service reimbursements."The federal funds are important," said district spokeswoman Judy Ramos. "The food service reimbursements cover free and reduced lunch as well as full-priced lunches, but our free/reduced numbers keep increasing and the number of students who pay full price is declining."Also at the post office this day was Marisol Gahman, 33, who said, as a Republican, she supports some cuts but wouldn't want to cut some other federal programs, such as those for higher education.When she learned that the Hurst Police Department was receiving $78,713 from President Barack Obama's stimulus -- the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- she was irate. The money will be used to provide new handguns for sworn officers, according to the city's website."Is there actual crime that occurs that they prevent? I mean, I know they sit at the mall and wait for people who speed by. Do they actually do something productive like defend people?" Gahman said.She added she "believes in guns" but that Hurst's crime rate simply doesn't rate an arms upgrade.Hurst resident Raye Pratt, 32, said she's liberal on some subjects, conservative on others. She said lawmakers need to get their act together."They need to meet in the middle and quit playing politics with people's lives," she said. "That's what they were elected to do."Darren Barbee, 817-390-7126Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
