INGLEWOOD – The city of Inglewood has announced receiving a $200 million down payment from the Biden Administration towards the Inglewood Transit Connector (ITC) project.
According to a press release issued by Inglewood Mayor James Butts, the down payment is scheduled to come from a $1 billion pledge of federal funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) towards construction costs of the nearly $2.2 billion 1.6 mile transit project.
“Today the Biden/Harris Administration demonstrated their commitment to the ITC and their faith in the city of Inglewood and its partners to deliver this transformative investment for our community and region,” said Butts. “We are grateful for the support, and we will use it to further energize our work.”
Biden released his budget Fiscal Year 2025, following his State of the Union address which includes the first installment of the funds committed by the FTA which was announced in January.
The City has yet to publicly detail where the remaining funds will come from for construction costs nor have they released estimates of revenue the ITC will generate on an annual basis.
The city council has committed Inglewood taxpayers to $10 million in annual maintenance and operation costs despite the City projecting budget deficits through 2026.
“Our project team is on track to finalize our funding agreement with the federal government. We are working with our partners to secure the remainder of the funds needed to match this significant federal support of the ITC and expect to have the commitments we need in hand soon,” said Butts.
The team is expected to partner with Caltrans to apply for state funding which could be hindered by the state’s nearly $73 billion deficit.
As the project inches closer towards being 100% funded the inevitable becomes closer to reality that close to four dozen small businesses will be shuttered in the process.
