BOZEMAN – Livingston city officials say the city spent over $21,000 in federal economic stimulus money to resurface its tennis courts last summer.
Bozeman’s $50,000 plan to resurface its tennis courts this spring raised the ire of Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Schweitzer appeared at a Bozeman City Commission meeting last month to ask them to use the money elsewhere, but city officials declined and noted the state had approved the expenditure.
City Manager Ed Meece says a Billings company took about two weeks to resurface the courts in August. He says applying the state’s formula for stimulus projects, the project created or sustained the equivalent of three-fourths of a job for one year.
Sarah Elliott is the governor’s spokeswoman. She said she wasn’t sure if Schweitzer knew about Livingston’s tennis courts, but that he would argue it was not an appropriate use of stimulus money.