So much taxpayer grant money comes in to Lawrence that the city regularly finds itself scrambling to spend it before deadlines put the funds in jeopardy.

Continually falling under "use it or lose it" pressure virtually guarantees that this needed money will be spent neither wisely nor efficiently.

In the latest instance, the city nearly lost $1.2 million of a $2 million grant to help fix up a retail and office complex on Merrimack Street.

The grant from the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, announced with much fanfare in March, is intended to help developer Sal Lupoli with the next phase of his Riverwalk project. Lupoli has invested a great deal of his own money turning the once-abandoned mill complex along the Merrimack River into a collection of offices and retail space, including his own restaurant, Salvatore's.

The money is intended to help with demolition and asbestos removal so Lupoli can build a parking garage, office complex, and retail strip mall adjacent to the Riverwalk property.

It's a worthwhile expenditure of public funds that will help revitalize the Merrimack Street area and bring jobs to the city.

The city nearly lost the money because, as of earlier this week, it had not shown the state $1.2 million of the grant had been spent by the end of the 2009 fiscal year.

But by Tuesday, the city had demonstrated to the state's satisfaction that, while the actual work is not yet done, the money had been committed to the project.

It isn't the first time Lawrence was nearly forced to hand back grant money.

In 2000, the city almost had to return a $2 million federal grant to help relocate two dozen families from a flood-prone area along the Spicket River. It took three years for city officials to convince the affected families to move.

And in 2002, Lawrence lost $715,000 in federal money to construct sewage pipes into an airport industrial park. The federal government simply got tired of waiting for the city to use the money and took it back.

The grant money that flows into Lawrence is a gift from taxpayers intended to help the city get back on its feet. The least the city can do is use those funds promptly and as intended.