WEST VALLEY CITY — When it comes to Washington politics, it pays to pay someone to look out for you on Capitol Hill.

That's West Valley City's experience, after more than a decade of contracting a D.C. firm to lobby for highly sought-after funds for the city. Paying close to $100,000 a year to keep the city's interests in front of lawmakers' eyes might seem like an extreme step, but since West Valley has successfully obtained some $10 million in federal funds for special projects over the past 10 years, city leaders say it's worth it.

"It gives you such an advantage over other local governments that aren't as large as ours or sophisticated enough to use (a lobby firm,)" said Joseph Moore, West Valley's Community and Economic Development director. "They are right in the heart of Washington. ... If you want to be aggressive about getting federal funding you somehow have to keep your hand in Washington — keep your hand on the pulse of what's going on — because billions of dollars can come through that process."

This year, West Valley has its eye on $5.7 million in federal funds for various projects. Officials will be counting on The Ferguson Group — which represents more than 100 cities from Connecticut to California, but only West Valley City in Utah — to help them get the money.

The city's first priority is to obtain $2.2 million — in addition to $10.6 million being sought by Utah's Transit Authority — to build an intermodal hub for West Valley City's soon-to-be TRAX line. Second priority is obtaining $1.5 million to build an urban park around the intermodal hub.

The city is also looking to gain $300,000 for an after-school science program, $1 million to buy equipment for a regional DNA lab, $500,000 to expand programs at the Utah Cultural Celebrations Center and $200,000 to buy new public safety equipment.

City leaders have identified those six items, in order of priority, that they'd like funding for, but that's no guarantee that the city will get exactly what it wants.

"Sometime we'll get number four on the list but not number one," said West Valley City deputy city manager Nicole Cottle. "It all depends where the federal government is appropriating federal funds. We give (The Ferguson Group) some idea of where we want them to focus our work, but politics always kicks in and, depending on the politics on each issue, determines whether we're successful."