North Liberty will repay over $1 million to Iowa DOT for Kansas Avenue grant

NORTH LIBERTY — The City of North Liberty will repay more than $1 million to the Iowa Department of Transportation as a condition of a road grant meant to bring new jobs to the area.

North Liberty was awarded a Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy (RISE) grant dependent on the creation of 307 jobs at an expanded GEICO national auto insurance claims processing facility.

The project included reconstruction of about 5,220 feet of Kansas Avenue and the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Kansas Avenue and St. Andrews Drive.

The city entered into the RISE agreement in 2017 with the expectation that GEICO would add jobs based on projections from the company.

Once the city was awarded the RISE grant, it had until three years after the roadway was opened to deliver on the promised number of jobs.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic caused a pause in hiring and unusually high attrition, and GEICO fell short of their projections. We're simply abiding by the terms of the agreement by repaying a portion of the funding,” said Nick Bergus, North Liberty’s communications director.

North Liberty agreed to a repayment of $1,077,368. The city was awarded $3 million through the grant.

“The city still gets credit for that roadway because they still have a viable business there. It's just they weren't able to comply with the number of jobs they thought they would create,” Jennifer Kolacia, RISE program manager, said.

The DOT gives credit based on a sliding scale to the RISE grant recipient dependent on the number of jobs created.

The city works with the business associated with the RISE grant to provide payroll information to confirm the number of jobs created to the DOT.

Even though the city had to return a portion of the grant fund, Bergus said it was still a worthwhile project.

“The improvement of Kansas Avenue, together with the extension of utilities to the area, unlocked important opportunities for economic growth … We expect the Kansas Avenue project to quickly pay for itself, RISE grant or not,” Bergus said.

Megan Woolard covers Johnson County for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 368-8677; megan.woolard@thegazette.com