WAILUKU - It won't be known for weeks how much of the $787 billion stimulus plan signed into law by President Barack Obama will filter down to Maui County, Mayor Charmaine Tavares said Wednesday.

But Hawaii is expected to receive an estimated $1.1 billion, and county, state and federal officials are working to figure out how to manage the money when it arrives and preparing projects aimed at creating jobs and stimulating the economy, she said.

Tavares met Wednesday with U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono to discuss the stimulus package and how it will work, The Maui News reported today.

Hirono said Hawaii can expect to get $125.7 million under the federal Surface Transportation Program, which may include rail and port infrastructure, and $43.8 million for mass transit projects, including the purchase of buses. Other estimated Hawaii allocations include $30.8 million for municipal wastewater projects and $19.7 million for public water systems.

The stimulus package also includes $194.6 million to help state and county governments avert budget cuts, according to Hirono.

It remains to be seen how much will make its way here, Tavares said.

"We don't know how much is going to come to Maui County," she said, adding that the county doesn't know what criteria will be used to determine what projects will qualify for federal money under the stimulus measure.

She said she expects money will first come through federal agencies already established to funnel money to the states and counties, such as the Community Development Block Grant program and the Federal Highways Administration.

"We want to make sure no matter what we'll be ready to move as soon as we know what we have and what the requirements are," Tavares said.

She said she expects there will be a "flurry of activity" when county officials learn, possibly at the last minute, that money will be available for a project. Then, the pressure will be on to make sure the project moves ahead quickly, she said.

Federal officials, including Hawaii's congressional delegation, are working on figuring out which government agencies will be assigned the responsibility to channel funds to state and county governments.

"There are a lot of unknowns right now," she said. "How is the state going to distribute that money? And when are we going to get this money? . . . Is it going to come all at once? Or is it going to come in waves?"

Also among the unknowns is what federal requirements will be attached to the funding, Tavares said. One potential federal provision will be a "use it or lose it" condition aimed at getting projects moving quickly, she said.

"The whole idea is to get money into the economy," Tavares said.

The mayor said she believes the stimulus money for Maui County will come in waves that will require the County Council and her administration to react quickly to allow the federal money to flow into infrastructure projects.

Tavares said she hopes her administration and council members can find a mechanism to quickly recognize incoming federal funds from the stimulus package and approve spending it without the funding getting bogged down in the council's budget amendment process.

"We'll work very closely with the council," she said. "Time is going to be very critical in this."

The mayor said she doesn't expect answers on how much federal stimulus money will be coming to Maui County before she submits her fiscal 2009-10 budget to the council March 13.

More likely, council members will need to add the federal money to the county budget during their deliberations on the county's spending plan.

In December, while the Obama transition team was preparing to enter the White House, the Tavares administration prepared a list of 58 "ready-to-go" infrastructure projects worth more than $200 million and later revised the list to more than 80 projects estimated to cost more than $315.4 million.

* Brian Perry can be reached at citydesk@mauinews.com.