DENVER – The U.S. Department of the Treasury released the allocations and spending guidelines for the $5.7 billion that will soon be headed to Colorado and its local governments as part of the American Rescue Plan.
President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package back in March, which includes $350 billion for state and local governments across the country they will be able to use in several ways to come out of the pandemic.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the funding “a milestone” in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the Great Recession, when cities and states were facing similar revenue shortfalls, the federal government didn’t provide enough aid to close the gap,” Yellen said in a statement. “That was an error. Insufficient relief meant that cities had to slash spending, and that austerity undermined the broader recovery. With today’s announcement, we are charting a very different – and much faster – course back to prosperity.”
Colorado and its local governments will get $5.7 billion in total from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: $3.8 billion for the state; $1.1 billion for counties; $551 million for metropolitan cities and $265 million for local governments with 50,000 or fewer people.
The Treasury Department has rules surrounding what the funds can be used for, but the scope is fairly broad.
“Through these funds in the American Rescue Plan, Colorado state and local governments will receive much-needed, flexible funding to support a wide range of efforts, from investing in broadband to helping the hardest-hit businesses reopen their doors to funding our public health infrastructure,” Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said in a statement. “This support will help us bridge our way out of this pandemic into an economy that provides opportunity to all.”
States, counties or local governments can fund COVID-19 mitigation efforts; address economic impacts including rehiring of workers, housing and food stability, small business assistance and more; address inequalities surrounding the economy, education and public health; give premium pay to essential workers; and put the money toward infrastructure improvements, among other things.
State and local officials have been eagerly anticipating the funding amounts and guidance since the American Rescue Plan was on the verge of being signed, saying that the extra funding will help propel the recovery in Colorado and boost efforts to make societal changes coming out of the pandemic.
In March, state budget forecasters said the funding would dissipate negative risks forecast several months ago and help bring the economy back to pre-pandemic levels in a quicker fashion. The Office of State Planning and Budgeting estimated about $6 billion would be coming to Colorado.
The money will come in two waves – half this month and the other half about this time next year. Many counties and municipalities are still deciding what they will do with the money and reviewing guidance from the Treasury Department, but Denver is among the counties already with plans on how to use its portion.
Mayor Michael Hancock announced at the end of April that his administration plans to ask voters to approve a $400 million bond package this November to leverage the roughly $308 million in combined city and county funds going to Denver.
Denver Chief Financial Officer Brendan Hanlon said in a statement that the city and county expect to receive the first allotment of that money in the coming days. The city said in a news release that it would be talking with the community and city council this month on how to deploy the funds.
“These American Rescue Plan funds will help to deliver on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape a sustainable, equitable recovery for our city,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock said. “We have a strong recovery plan and thankfully we also now have a partner at the federal level willing to put resources toward building back in a way that is equitable and, with local efforts, more sustainable,” Hancock said in a statement.
Other counties and local governments also said Monday they planned on discussing what to prioritize with the funding in coming weeks.
For a full breakdown of how much counties and cities will receive from the American Rescue Plan, scroll down this story.
Colorado state funding $3,828,761,789.90
Cities: $551,290,096
Arvada $11,075,818.00
Aurora $65,424,806.00
Boulder $20,153,269.00
Broomfield City/County $7,040,034.00
Castle Rock $5,703,100.00
Centennial $8,489,546.00
Colorado Springs $76,039,132.00
Commerce City $10,505,025.00
Denver $166,796,658.00
Fort Collins $28,118,971.00
Grand Junction $10,484,608.00
Greeley $20,991,595.00
Lakewood $21,581,066.00
Longmont $12,973,267.00
Loveland $9,504,879.00
Parker $4,452,437.00
Pueblo $36,407,001.00
Thornton $21,001,371.00
Westminster $14,548,323.00
Non-Entitlement Unit allocation: $265,396,436
Counties: $1,118,566,954
Adams County $100,502,964.00
Alamosa County $3,153,070.00
Arapahoe County $127,534,910.00
Archuleta County $2,724,969.00
Baca County $695,567.00
Bent County $1,083,267.00
Boulder County $63,359,749.00
Broomfield County $13,687,000.00
Chaffee County $3,953,914.00
Cheyenne County $355,650.00
Clear Creek County $1,884,111.00
Conejos County $1,593,725.00
Costilla County $755,004.00
Crowley County $1,177,278.00
Custer County $984,400.00
Delta County $6,052,853.00
Denver County $141,252,212.00
Dolores County $399,160.00
Douglas County $68,207,548.00
Eagle County $10,707,773.00
El Paso County $139,929,837.00
Elbert County $5,191,795.00
Fremont County $9,292,165.00
Garfield County $11,666,145.00
Gilpin County $1,212,630.00
Grand County $3,056,145.00
Gunnison County $3,391,789.00
Hinsdale County $159,275.00
Huerfano County $1,339,661.00
Jackson County $270,380.00
Jefferson County $113,217,801.00
Kiowa County $273,099.00
Kit Carson County $1,378,509.00
La Plata County $10,920,270.00
Lake County $1,578,574.00
Larimer County $69,323,447.00
Las Animas County $2,817,620.00
Lincoln County $1,107,352.00
Logan County $4,352,686.00
Mesa County $29,953,485.00
Mineral County $149,369.00
Moffat County $2,580,067.00
Montezuma County $5,085,741.00
Montrose County $8,305,240.00
Morgan County $5,646,118.00
Otero County $3,550,287.00
Ouray County $961,868.00
Park County $3,660,420.00
Phillips County $828,426.00
Pitkin County $3,451,031.00
Prowers County $2,364,268.00
Pueblo County $32,714,388.00
Rio Blanco County $1,228,363.00
Rio Grande County $2,188,483.00
Routt County $4,979,881.00
Saguache County $1,325,482.00
San Juan County $141,405.00
San Miguel County $1,588,675.00
Sedgwick County $436,648.00
Summit County $6,023,523.00
Teller County $4,931,321.00
Washington County $953,321.00
Weld County $63,028,767.00
Yuma County $1,946,073.00
