At the moment the City of Auburn doesn’t have the dollars it needs to build the long anticipated community center at the south end of Les Gove Park, Auburn City Councilman Rich Wagner said Monday.

Wagner, chairman of the Community Center Committee, said the City has identified a funding source for half of the estimated $9 million – minus what already has been spent – it would need to launch the community center project, but officials aren’t sure the revenue streams will be there to support the bond for the other half.

Wagner blamed the the slumping economy and declining sales tax revenues.

“If people aren’t selling cars, we aren’t getting sales tax. We need to see that turn around before we can afford this project,” Wagner said.

But city officials recently learned of a grant process that the King County Housing Authority administers for the federal government in low-income areas, a program that could help the city get the community center project underway early next year.

“It’s a creative process where they are able to attract investors like banks to invest in things like the community center in return for federal tax credits that are very generous,” Wagner explained. “The investor gets his money back at about 10 percent interest in about seven years, so he doesn’t have a long term investment.”

It’s called the New Markets Tax Credit program, and it has been around since December 2000 but received a monetary boost from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February.

Wagner said the complex process will take months to work out. The city will have to apply for grants.

Council members will consider a resolution at the June 15 meeting that will state the city’s intention to proceed with the project by January 2010.

“It could get us moving sooner than January 2010. We knew that we couldn’t bring that to fruition in 30 days, which is the time frame the current community center bids expire, and so we have notified our bidders that we are not going to accept their bids. We will likely rebid the project later in the year,” Wagner said.

Part of the King County Housing Authority grant process must be applied in low-income areas where the KCHA has a vested interest. Its Green River Homes, slated for rehabilitation early next year, are located north and east of Les Gove Park in an area identified by the 2000 Census as one of the lowest income areas in the city.

Council members had anticipated that they would have to put off the activities center and gymnasium, but if everything pans out they could be built at the same time as the community center. The King County Boys and Girls club would be a partner in the activities center and potentially a partner with KCHA.

“There’s a certain allocation from the feds that the Housing Authority gets every year that can be used in this way, granting tax credits to investors like banks for projects that benefit these areas. Bringing the Boys and Girls Club into that equation helps even more with that,” Wagner said.

Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis explained the advantage.

“This allows us to borrow money at a much reduced rate and gives us the ability by using community development block grant capital money to fully fund the community center and activities center without using any taxpayer dollars,” Lewis said.

The entire project is as follows:

• A one-story, 20,000-square-foot community center to the north of where the old YMCA building once stood. It will include an 8,000-square-foot gathering place for as many as 450 people that will look out on the park, equipped with sliding doors that open on a patio, a lobby area, an administration area, two classrooms and a warming kitchen. Plans call for a friendship storage room where ethnic groups will store material for programs they may have in the center. The parking lot could accommodate 128 cars.

• Reconfiguration of the Parks, Arts and Recreation administration building for lease by the Boys and Girls Club.

• A 10,000-square-foot gymnasium to the west of the youth and teen center, connected to it by a covered walkway. It could be used during the day by senior volleyball and fitness programs and by after-school programs.