ABSTRACT
Most federal grants and other forms of aid are distributed on a cost-share basis, with the federal government providing the bulk of funds and state and local governments providing matching funds. For major development projects, such as those carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the current cost-share formula is typically 65% federal, 35% local. Some critics believe that this system allows state and local governments to shirk their share of the responsibility for the long-term, cumulative impacts that such infrastructure projects may have in the community, including the increased development and growth in hazard locations that may result. Cost-shares that include a greater local contribution may provide a larger sense of local ownership in a project and thereby a greater level of accountability on the part of local communities.1 However, with severely limited local government budgets in many communities, the cost-share model is oen necessary
to fund large infrastructure projects or capital improvements that reduce risk to hazards.
