American Rescue Plan Act
The City of Boulder has received $20.15 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The city has until the end of 2024 to commit funds and until the end of 2026 to spend them. ARPA is designed to help communities and local governments recover from the pandemic, including those who have been disproportionately impacted.
In addition to federal guidelines for how ARPA dollars can be spent, the city has developed its own guiding principles for the funding, which incorporate the city’s equity, sustainability and resilience goals, using the city’s Sustainability + Resilience Framework and Racial Equity Framework.
The city allocated portions of ARPA funding in 2021 and 2022 to meet critical, immediate needs and to begin to move forward with pandemic recovery. In March 2023, Boulder City Council approved a spending plan for the remainder of the funding which will support community recovery. You can find more details about these funding allocations on the city's ARPA Funding Dashboard.
2020 Coronavirus Funding
The City of Boulder received over $3.5 million dollars in The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. To ensure an equitable community recovery, these funds were heavily used to support impacted individuals, local businesses and non-profits throughout the pandemic.
COVID-19’s health and economic impacts were felt by people across our community. The city’s goal was to help community members alleviate displacement, hunger and lack of access to essential services due to COVID-19. About 50% of the total funding was set aside for local organizations working to benefit the community’s most vulnerable populations. Areas of focus include homelessness services, food assistance, rental assistance, mental and behavioral health, financial assistance and bridging the digital divide.
Local businesses were also heavily impacted by the pandemic and to support the local economy, the city dedicated 45% of the funding to the business community. This support came in the form of grants and short-term programs designed to alleviate the economic burden of the pandemic.
