Pueblo has spent more than $23M in American Rescue Plan Act Funds. Here's where it went
The city of Pueblo has spent a little over $23.1 million of its American Rescue Plan Act Funds since September 2021 and has nearly $14 million remaining, according to an expense report provided to the Chieftain by the city’s finance department.
Several proposed ARPA expenditures are pending approval by city council, according to the report. If approved, the city’s remaining ARPA funds would total just under $11 million.
President Joe Biden in March 2021 signed into law The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The $1.9 trillion bill included $350 million for state, local, territorial and tribal governments.
Municipalities have flexibility on how to spend the funds but expenditures must go toward premium pay for essential workers, investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, the public health and negative economic impacts from the pandemic and revenue lost because of the pandemic.
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Pueblo received funds in two tranches: $18.2 million in May 2021 and the same amount in June 2022. It also accumulated $137,468 between October 2021 and August 2022 from a local government investment pool called the Colorado Surplus Asset Fund Trust.
The city has spent a portion of its ARPA funds on assistance for nonprofits including Pueblo Food Project, Pueblo Rescue Mission, Pueblo Community Soup Kitchen, Boys and Girls Club and more.
Some of its largest expenditures include over $280,000 for the co-response program partnership between the Pueblo Police Department and Health Solutions; $395,000 for Posada of Pueblo and its housing efforts to address homelessness; and $300,000 towards Habitat for Humanity of Pueblo and its plan to build a home on the lower east side.
The city has approved 46 other ARPA requests from the community for a total north of $4.7 million.
The city’s internal administrative ARPA expenditures include $132,515 on payroll through Aug. 31, 2022, and an additional $10,861 on operating supplies. It spent $53,562 on its estimated payroll through 2022.
More than $8.2 million has been spent on ARPA proposals to assist the city. The highest expenditures were $2 million each for wastewater infrastructure at Northern Avenue, West 11th and 21st St. and the Wildhorse Extension located north of the highway at Pueblo Boulevard.
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Separate ARPA payments directed for the city include $1.068 million towards essential pay for the fire and police departments; nearly $830,000 for Pueblo City-County Library District’s summer reading challenge program; and over $345,000 toward all city employees who took part in the vaccination incentive initiative.
Some of the proposed ARPA expenditures could be approved by city council during its meeting on Monday, including a reimbursement of $294,121 to the upcoming Fuel & Iron Food Hall for the purchase of restaurant equipment and other fixtures.
Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Here's a breakdown of where Pueblo has spent its ARPA funding so far
