Grants help so many organizations, non-profits, governments. But, some grants using your tax dollars and going to local governments are raising some eyebrows right now.

$5,000 is heading to the Village of Sherman in the form of a grant from the Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission. The grant is from the federal government through IDOT. The money is being used to help Sherman determine what roads are good and what are bad. So shouldn’t the engineers and public works department already know what roads are bad?

“Yes, and we do,” Mayor Trevor Clatfelter said. “But is also allows us to use that grant money to pay the engineering firm a broader generalized assessment of the entire town.”

But some see a grant like this as a waste of money. The Illinois Policy Institute says if there are already workers who are devoted to maintaining and keeping up with streets, they should already know what roads need work because that’s part of their job. A job taxpayers are footing the bill for.

“They do these annual evaluations every year in most of these communities, so the idea they would be taking extra money from the county government, of course they are going to take the money if it’s offered to them. But on the other hand, these citizens are paying twice for the same job,” Naomi Lopez Bauman from the Illinois Policy Institute said.

The Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission says most smaller communities aren’t in the business of creating big picture plans, like in this case, a road improvement plan for Sherman.

“They usually don’t have an inventory of the roads or of the condition of the roads, and this grant helps them do that,” Linda Wheeland from the Planning Commission said.

“Governments are always crying poor,” Lopez Bauman said. “Government always want more money They don’t see taxpayers as paying for the most essential services, but as ATMs.”

In March, voters in Sherman rejected three tax increases the Sherman Fire Protection District requested. It’s also worth noting, last week, $1.4 million was awarded to Sherman in state dollars to help with roadwork projects.

Other communities also received $5,000 grants. Southern View, Jerome, and Grandview all received grants.

By Andrew Hansen

Find the article and video here.