{"id":469972,"date":"2021-11-09T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T14:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=469972"},"modified":"2022-03-20T16:10:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T23:10:09","slug":"montana-maps-infrastructure-funds","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/montana-maps-infrastructure-funds","title":{"rendered":"Maps Help Ensure Equitable Distribution of Infrastructure Funds in Montana"},"author":1632,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[401,1031],"tags":[476412,287712,160952,476402],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[478482],"esri_blog_department":[478192],"class_list":["post-469972","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","category-natural-resources","tag-arpa","tag-grants","tag-infrastructure","tag-montana","esri-blog-category-services","esri_blog_department-gis-for-good"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"Montana used GIS to help the agency and the public visualize and understand the dispersal of economic stimulus funds.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Montana\u2019s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employed maps and dashboards to add transparency to the distribution of economic stimulus funds.\r\n\r\nKey Takeaways\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Montana officials used mapping tools and dashboards to track and share infrastructure spending.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>With the help of maps, DNRC staff ensure equitable distribution of funds across the state.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Grant applicants and the public accessed the maps and dashboards to navigate the submission process.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) recently experienced a rare money problem: a surplus instead of a deficit. To figure out where to spend the money, state officials analyzed maps and built online dashboards to share results with the public.\r\n\r\nThanks to the $350 billion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) passed by Congress in March to provide economic stimulus for state, local, territorial, and tribal governments that Montana officials found themselves with about $900 million to use strategically.\r\n\r\nThe Montana legislature decided the bulk of the money should be spent to upgrade the state\u2019s water and sewer systems, and the staff at the DNRC were tasked with determining which communities to invest in. But they had to move quickly to meet the deadline imposed by the legislature.\r\n\r\nMontana DNRC invited city and county governments, state agencies, water and sewer associations, and conservation districts to submit proposals for projects to fund. \u201cThey only had about a month to apply for this money, and we got over $900 million in grant requests,\u201d said Autumn Coleman, DNRC\u2019s resource development bureau chief. \u201cFor people to even apply for the money, they had to figure out how much they could get and how much in matching funds they needed to bring to the table to even be considered.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo allocate and disperse the funds, DNRC created two separate grant programs. One was to be divided among Montana\u2019s 56 counties, based on the same formula used to distribute money collected from the state\u2019s gasoline tax. This gas tax formula calculates a county\u2019s size, population, and miles of public roadways. The formula was fair but complex and difficult to parse for those unfamiliar with it. Adding further confusion, potential grantees were required to present matching funds.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s where an online dashboard and map proved crucial to the effort. Coleman and her team significantly reduced the complexity of the process by building a <a href=\"https:\/\/arpa-mtdnrc.hub.arcgis.com\/pages\/minimum-allocation-dashboard\">public-facing map<\/a> and dashboard using a geographic information system (GIS)."},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[470002,470012]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The visualization tools added a graphic element to what would otherwise be just facts and figures. Residents and grant applicants could more easily make a connection between the gas tax formula and its impact on funding decisions\u2014and also monitor what decisions were being made as they began to appear on the map.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s just a really hard thing to explain to folks, so having this mapping tool made it easier for people to understand,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cI think that\u2019s why spatial data works in this regard. We\u2019re trying to communicate with the public. We could share a giant 20-page table, but it just doesn\u2019t play as well as being able to look and see what you and your neighbors are getting.\u201d\r\n<h3><strong>One Big State, Many Small Identities<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe second ARPA grant program was purely competitive. Proposals were judged solely on merit. Geographic distribution was not officially a consideration, but that didn\u2019t mean it was going to be ignored.\r\n\r\nLike all states, Montana has important political and demographic considerations, which are influenced by its size (third largest in the continental US, twice the area of all New England states combined) and population (sixth lowest, 7 percent of New England\u2019s). Natural conflicts include urban centers versus rural areas; sparsely populated eastern Montana versus the more populous west; and longtime residents of modest means versus more affluent new arrivals. This all plays out against the backdrop of Montana\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.krtv.com\/news\/montana-and-regional-news\/new-census-data-shows-shift-of-montana-population\">rapid population growth<\/a>, enough for the 2020 Census results to earn the state a new congressional seat. The fastest-growing area is Gallatin County, one of only two counties with a median family income greater than the US average. The upscale magazine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelandleisure.com\/trip-ideas\/what-to-do-in-bozeman-montana\"><em>Travel + Leisure<\/em><\/a> recently called Bozeman, Gallatin\u2019s county seat, \u201cone of America\u2019s coolest towns\u201d and \u201ca place of serendipities.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[470032,470052,470022,470042]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Despite its growth and coolness factor, Montana was recently ranked as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/07\/14\/these-are-americas-worst-states-for-infrastructure.html\">the nation\u2019s seventh-worst state for infrastructure<\/a>. According to Coleman, water and sewer funding is often viewed as an important dimension of fairness by the state\u2019s differing populations and places and their representatives.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re a very dispersed state, with a few major population centers and lots of rural areas,\u201d she said. \u201cLegislators want to see ARPA funds spread evenly across Montana. They want to make sure that the smaller communities in their districts get a fair chance in all of this.\u201d\r\n\r\n<strong>Healthy Competition<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDNRC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/arpa-mtdnrc.hub.arcgis.com\/pages\/project-applications\">map and dashboard<\/a> of competitive grant applicants have served a dual purpose. As much as it promotes transparency by showing the public the geographic distribution of the grants, it also allows Coleman and her team to test various funding scenarios, which supports internal accountability.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt was definitely a decision-making tool,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cWe could look at it and say, \u2018if we fund the top 28 projects, what does the map look like?\u2019 As we funded more projects, we could see the dots spread across the state.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWe could show that funds weren\u2019t just going to population centers,\u201d said Corey Richidt, a GIS analyst and developer at DNRC. \u201cWe could even see the areas that are disproportionally affected by COVID.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor Brian Collins, GIS manager at DNRC, the maps serve as a manifestation of the agency\u2019s larger purpose\u2014serving residents.\r\n\r\n\u201cPutting together this kind of information resource was a good reminder that we\u2019re in a public service profession,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re providing customer service at a very high level to people that need it right now. And it\u2019s very gratifying to put it out there this way.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Center","content":"<h2><strong>Creating Clear Communication with the Public<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nThe American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) is a wide-ranging economic relief program. Montana\u2019s online ARPA tools provide a model any state can follow to help residents understand the funding mechanisms and promote internal accountability within state agencies.\r\n\r\nKey to Montana\u2019s approach is a unique combination of technologies that are all supported by GIS.\r\n\r\nMaps built by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) help the public in Montana see where the state is distributing its federal economic stimulus funds. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/arcgis\/products\/arcgis-dashboards\/overview\">ArcGIS Dashboards<\/a> provides critical context, but Montana DNRC also needs to communicate information clearly and effectively. For that reason, the dashboards and maps are included in an <a href=\"https:\/\/arpa-mtdnrc.hub.arcgis.com\/\">informational website<\/a>\u00a0built by Lauri Abeyta, a DNRC web developer, using\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/arcgis\/products\/arcgis-hub\/overview\">ArcGIS Hub<\/a>.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt was fast and easy,\u201d Abeyta said. \u201cWith just our <a href=\"http:\/\/dnrc.mt.gov\/\">current website<\/a>, I don\u2019t think we would\u2019ve gotten the traffic or been able to disseminate information in a way that made sense to the public, with the easy interlaying of different dashboards.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen we pulled Lauri into this, she had a really fast turnaround time,\u201d said Corey Richidt, a GIS analyst at DNRC. \u201cShe was able to stand up the hub site and make it look polished and clean, so then we could easily bring in the dashboard aspect.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe wealth of information provided by the hub functioned as an informational clearinghouse, reducing the number of process-related queries from potential grant applicants that had to be fielded by DNRC staff. \u201cFrontloading information resources for potential applicants reduced some of the impact,\u201d said Brian Collins, DNRC\u2019s GIS manager. \u201cWe knew if we gave applicants a fighting chance at understanding the process, that alone would be a huge success.\u201d\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nLearn how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/federal-funding\/overview\">GIS helps align progress on health, economy, infrastructure and equity for communities<\/a>.","snippet":""}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Maps Help Ensure Equity in Montana Infrastructure Upgrades<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For Montana, maps help ensure that economic stimulus funds are equitably divided among a large state with varied 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