(The IID will award funds Tuesday)…The over $66,000 will go to Schools around the county.

The funds are the in lieu of property tax funds negotiated in an agreement with the county in 2005, following the Imperial Irrigation District’s purchase of almost 42,000 acres of Western Farms lands in 2004. In conjunction with the Imperial County Office of Education, IID developed a grant program that enables funding to remain within local school districts. Last year the IID awarded $69,700 to qualifying applicants based upon acreage of Western Farms land inventory within the boundaries of their school districts. This year the district reviewed 17 applications and will present $66,200 in awards to those schools who submitted an application and qualified for the program. The awards will be presented at next week’s IID Board of Directors meeting.