An official recently wrote an op-ed piece to drive home the point that many of rural Wisconsin's projects are funded to a large extent by federal funds, followed by the state.
U.S.D.A. Rural Development Director Stan Gruszynski says not much has been made public about how much money U.S.D.A.spends in Wisconsin each year. He says it's between $700 million and $1 billion each year...
"....if you look at just was USDA Rural Development spends without adding other USDA agencies, Food Inspection, Natural Resources Conservation, the Forest Service, Farm Services Agency. We outspend outspend practically all of the state agencies with an interest in rural Wisconsin combined. These communities in rural Wisconsin that I'm working with, they ask for federal support. Often times without federal support for a water-wastewater system, housing, they rely on the federal government to bring their tax dollars back to build a rural economy...."
As an example, about $3.7 million will be coming to the city of Rhinelander and will help fund the sewer upgrades that are a part of the upcoming downtown revitalization project called Streetscape. USDA also gave funds to the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry to help them in their move.
