PROVO — For a city of about 10,000 people, a check for $5,738.13 might not seem like a lot of money.

But for small towns that need money to pay for new playground equipment or a community pool, every penny counts.

The Utah County Commission approved Tuesday about $246,000 in communities activities grants that can be spent on such things as playgrounds, baseball parks and soccer fields.

The money, which will be distributed to cities across the county, is coming from a surplus of Tourism, Recreation, Cultural and Convention Facilities tax funds and can only be used for recreational projects.

In Alpine, where the grant will help pay for a new, wooden playground in South Pointe Park, the money is a helpful addition, says Alpine City Manager Ted Stillman.

"It's a great, positive thing," Stillman said. "(Without the grant) we would have (built the playground) anyway, but it would have taken longer to do it. This has speeded things up in being able to do it."

This year, Utah County allocated about $280,000 toward the grant program, which was almost twice as much as has been available to cities in previous years. Each year the amount varies, based on how much the county receives for its tourism tax.

Any leftover monies will accumulate in a trust fund until the cities file an application next year, said Commissioner Steve White.

In 2001 and 2002, the county did not provide any extra grant money to the cities because of a nationwide recession.

White said Orem and Provo do not usually participate in the grant program, but this year, they were included.

"It was a political decision; a fairness decision," White said. "I think we've set a standard (to include Provo and Orem in the future). I'm not looking to delete people."

According to White, Provo and Orem generate the highest percentage of tourism taxes in the county, but the grant funds are distributed based on the city's population.

Fairfield, which has 132 residents, receives about $81 from the county. Provo, which had about 114,000 residents in 2005, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, received $72,896.35 from the county.

"We want (the cities) to have this money, and it helps them, so we're going to do what we can to help them receive it," said Commissioner Gary Anderson.

Although the grant amounts were approved on Tuesday, payment to the cities will come in the form of reimbursements for money spent on appropriate recreational projects.

"It's not crazy money, but it's something," said Cedar Hills City Manager Konrad Hildebrandt. "We count all of our pennies here, and I'm sure every city does. If you get an extra check for something, it's great."

The cities have until Oct. 31 to submit receipts to the county for reimbursement.

---

E-mail: achoate@desnews.com