Special to The Hays Daily News

Norton County will receive assistance from the state for road improvements.

The Kansas Department of Commerce has allocated $30.617 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bond authority for four business projects and $11.93 million in Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds for three public improvement projects, officials announced today.

Norton County will receive $65,000 in Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds. Bonner Springs and Topeka are also municipality recipients, while Ford and Harvey counties, and Edwardsville and Concordia will receive Recovery Zone Facility Bonds.

Recovery Zone Facility Bonds and Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds are two new types of bonds created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help economically distressed areas.

Recovery Zone Facility Bonds are much like Private Activity Bonds and can be used for privately owned or used projects. These bonds are federally tax exempt, which can provide the issuer with a lower cost of capital. Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds, which are used for public infrastructure, are fully taxable to the bond holders, but the U.S. Treasury will pay to the issuer (cities, counties) an amount equal to 45 percent of each interest payment.