Washington, DC - Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn says the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or economic stimulus, has had effects that are creating hardships for communities.

In the town of Perkins -- located about 60 miles west of Tulsa in Payne County -- the stimulus provided 1-point-445 million dollars for a new wastewater treatment plant.

Coburn says as a condition of accepting those funds, the town has to comply with several federal requirements, which increased the total cost of the project by more than 1-point-5 million dollars.

That additional cost offset the stimulus funds and in turn, Perkins residents are now paying utility rates that are 60-percent higher to pay for the new plant.

It's just one of 100 stimulus projects highlighted in a report released by Coburn this month.

"This report does not attempt to prove that the stimulus is not working," Coburn says. "Rather, the intent is to educate taxpayers, policymakers and the media on lessons that can be learned from some of the early missteps and prevent other questionable projects from moving forward."

Coburn says he plans to issue additional stimulus project reports in the coming months in the hopes of keeping the government accountable.

To read Coburn's full report, visit http://coburn.senate.gov.

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