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COVID-19 Pandemic Response and Recovery funds have helped our community in many critical ways.
New financial transparency website shows spending in detail and provides stories of how CARES assistance has directly benefitted local residents and businesses.
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A little over a year ago, Boulder County residents, businesses, schools, and local governments responded to the global COVID-19 pandemic by staying at home, shifting to remote learning, conducting more online and curbside business transactions, and strictly limiting in-person gatherings.
Also just over a year ago, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to address the resulting impacts on families, small businesses, industries, and state/local governments.
This communication details how CARES Act money was obtained and dispersed by Boulder County over the past year.
How Boulder County obtained and dispersed CARES $$
Boulder County – in collaboration with its municipal partners – administered and distributed nearly $28 million* in program and grant funding awarded from the federal CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund in 2020. The funds, in addition to county-funded measures, have been used to respond to COVID-19 impacts on local residents and businesses.
Advocating for the County's share
The Boulder County Commissioners successfully advocated for county government funding for counties with less than 500,000 in population that did not receive a direct federal allocation of CARES Act funding.
The work to bring this money to Boulder County and share it with local municipalities and non-profits would not have happened without the assistance of Speaker KC Becker, House Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, and Governor Jared Polis. The county then worked with municipalities within Boulder County to effectively and equitably mobilize these resources to save lives and mitigate the disparate economic and health impacts of the pandemic in Boulder County.
Total allocation and spending
Through this work, Boulder County was awarded $27,983,411 in federal funds from the State of Colorado.
- Boulder County allocated 45% of the funds directly to the towns and cities in the county, based on population. Each municipality, in turn, distributed its allocated portion of the money according to its own needs.
- Boulder County retained $16,135.618 to distribute through its own programs and through the efforts of its non-profit partners for pandemic relief. A few example stories are shared below.
At the one-year anniversary marking the lockdown due to the pandemic, Boulder County has rolled out a new financial transparency website to allow the public to drill down and see in detail how the $16.1 million was spent in 2020.
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The funding that almost wasn't.
At first, Colorado counties with populations under 500,000 were not going to get any CARES Act funding. However, due to the tireless work of Boulder County’s Board, staff, and our state legislative and executive partners, counties across Colorado received their share.
Boulder County’s $28 million was used to meet critical needs throughout Boulder County to help fight the devastating COVID-19 impacts on its residents and businesses. We were glad to share the funding with local cities, towns and non-profits that did great work.
-Boulder County Board of County Commissioners Chair Matt Jones
Reference: Agreement to split total CARES Act funding 55/45 (county/municipalities).
Note: The individual towns and cities are responsible for accounting for their portion of the 45% distribution by reporting directly to the State of Colorado.
Media Contact:
Barb Halpin, 303-441-1622
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Stories of grant recipients:
Funds provided by the county to numerous organizations helped them and the people they serve in many ways, including assisting with utility bills, ensuring childcare was available, and by getting food and medicines to those who couldn't pick it up themselves. Without the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CVRF) funding, many community organizations that provide invaluable assistance to Boulder County residents may not have survived the COVID-19 pandemic. Three examples include:
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Without people to transport, Via, a mobility assistance organization, shifted gears and started offering free pick-up and delivery of prepaid groceries and prescriptions to numerous county residents experiencing COVID-19-related hardships.
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Sister Carmen helped provide households with food and financial assistance for electricity/gas bills and also used CARES money to support digital literacy classes that connect underserved families and individuals with affordable technology and training on basic computer skills.
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Boulder Day Nursery was able to increase health and safety practices that allowed them stay open throughout 2020 in order to continue providing the highest quality care to those families who most needed childcare services during the pandemic.
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The following are some highlights of the $16.1 million CARES Act funding distributed directly by Boulder County:
(Note: Figures are rounded up or down to the closest $100,000. Full details are available on the open.gov financial platform)
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Public Health $2.0 million
CVRF funding was utilized to support local testing efforts, mobile testing within communities that have been disparately impacted, contact tracing, supporting businesses’ compliance with public health orders, PPE, public communication in English and Spanish, vaccine distribution, and other response efforts. In addition to the CVRF resources distributed by Boulder County to the public health response, Boulder County Public Health received direct support from the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment to respond to the pandemic.
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Community Support $4.4 million
The Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services (BCDHHS) distributed funding to local food banks, health care centers, and Family Resource Centers. As food supplies dwindled in late 2020 due to pressures in the supply and delivery chain, Boulder County awarded $500,000 to Community Food Share, the primary supplier for local food banks.
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Childcare $3.4 million
Boulder County and local municipalities worked together to support 100 current childcare providers to manage expanded services, increased costs, and lost revenue during the pandemic. Having access to quality, safe, and supportive childcare during the pandemic has been crucial for many families with children, and especially working parents in essential job functions who have been impacted.
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Economic and Business Support $1.3 million
Boulder County provided relief grants to 43 small businesses in unincorporated Boulder County that were directly impacted by the pandemic, increased Workforce Boulder County staff to answer calls and support people in applying for unemployment insurance, provided PPE and education on their workplace rights and protections to frontline and essential workers, implemented the “Step Up Boulder County/Echale Ganas” public communication campaign with small business owners asking our community to comply with public health orders to keep businesses open, and provided free PPE, sanitation supplies, and other resources to 612 small businesses county-wide.
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Providing Public Service During the Pandemic $4.7 million
Boulder County closed most in-person services on March 16, 2020, in accordance with the Colorado Stay-At-Home-Order. The county quickly adapted its workforce, offices, operations, and frontline services to the realities of the Coronavirus pandemic. The county invested in Plexiglass barriers, enhanced cleaning protocols, personal protective equipment (PPE), remote work hardware and software, improved cybersecurity and improved call center service and communication to better provide continuity of county services to the public. Funding was also allocated to provide increased staffing to support people applying for unemployment insurance, to improve communication with Spanish-speaking community members, for direct community member outreach to identify key needs, and to support staffing needs in other key areas of the response.
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Digital Divide $360,000
Boulder County provided equipment and technology-based services to individuals and families to support a myriad of services. For examples, funds were used to increase family engagement opportunities in children’s schools, remote learning for young children in Head Start, remote learning for adults working towards high school equivalency, and to support clients in complying with criminal justice related requirements.
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Boulder County launches new Financial Transparency website to show spending
Boulder County has released a new financial transparency platform that tracks the county’s portion of CARES Act funding. The new platform provides graphs and spending details along with stories of how CARES Act funding directly benefitted individuals, families, and businesses in Boulder County.
Visit www.boco.org/CARES-Act-Funding for details and specific funding amounts.
* Distribution amounts as of March 31, 2021.
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Accounting for CARES Act spending
In alignment with the county's strategic priority of Organizational and Financial Stewardship, CARES Act financial data is being publicly shared for all to review.
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We welcome your comments and input.
Warmly,
Matt, Claire and Marta
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