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. Thanks to Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding, Boulder County was able to help mitigate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis for both the public and our staff, including providing testing and support, a public health call-center, and personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care providers and others. In total, $27,983,411 was provided to Boulder County by the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA). Of the money received, $16,135,618 was used by Boulder County directly, while the remaining $11,847,793 was distributed by the county to towns and cities.

Learn more about about the CARES Act .

Some of the larger programs CARES Act funds helped support included:

• Grants for childcare that allowed child care programs to operate and provided essential workers with young children the ability to remain in their roles.
• Human services initiatives helping people who struggled with lapses in work or loss of work through utility and housing assistance.
• Local non-profit support, and additional opportunities to reach out for help.
• Telework resources for county staff, which increased accessibility for community members to access help during a time when many on-site services were either appointment-only or remote.
• Public health support that includes COVID-19 testing, a public health call-center, and purchasing personal protective equipment for health care providers, shelter workers, and other individuals working closely with the public.
• Economic assistance to local businesses through multiple rounds of grant funding.

Limitations of this data include:

• The financial data on this page only demonstrates the use of Coronavirus Relief Fund spending, as distributed by DOLA
• The county and Boulder County Public Health also utilized county funds and an additional $2.8 million in additional federal and state relief funds to respond to the pandemic. This data is not included here.
• The data shown is current as of March 2021.
• The data shown for public health represents payments that were made to from Boulder County to Boulder County Public Health as they are a separate legal entity that manages their own transactions.

NOTE - Scrolling over the charts depicted below will reveal additional information on the breakdown of each segment. Clicking on the chart will reveal detailed information about all data included in the chart.

Each category in the above chart addressed an unmet need in our community or internal organization identified through a rigorous review process managed by Boulder County. The Unmet Needs Assessment was initially created and distributed on Aug. 14, 2020. County leadership was asked to outline needs they had related to continuing operations and meeting the needs of their clients and the community. It was also noted during the pandemic that the Latinx/Hispanic community has been disparately impacted by COVID-19. To address this issue, employees were asked to consider how to remedy these disparities when filling out the Unmet Needs Assessment.

After the assessment, identified needs were evaluated by a review committee of county staff to determine CARES Act funding eligibility and recommendations were made to the Board of County Commissioners for final allocation decisions.

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 this funding, many of the community organizations that provide invaluable assistance to Boulder County residents may not have survived the COVID-19 pandemic. The stories below provide a few examples on just how important this funding was to so many.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was written to address COVID-19 impacts on four different groups in our communities: families, small businesses, industries, and state/local governments.

On May 18, 2020, Governor Polis signed Executive Order D2020 070 to establish the Coronavirus Relief fund using money provided by the Federal government which will reimburse costs to Counties, Municipalities and Special Districts for:

1. Necessary expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency(COVID-19 emergency);
2. Were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State; and
3. Were incurred during the “covered” period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020.