Bay Area Recovery Dollars Data Update: March 5, 2024

The latest quarterly reporting data from the US Treasury reflects local governments' allocation of SLFRF funds through September 30, 2023. 

SLFRF recipients are organized into five tiers. The dashboard includes Tier 1 and Tier 2 jurisdictions, which were required to submit a quarterly report for Q3 2023. There are 33 cities reflected in the dashboard. The version that reflected Q1 2023 data had 94 cities because it included Tier 5 jurisdictions. With this set of Tier 1 and Tier 2 jurisdictions, the total allocation of SLFRF funds to the region is $3 billion. The key findings listed below compare Q2 2023 and Q3 2023 data for Tier 1 and 2 jurisdictions. In the Q3 2023 dataset, the City of San Mateo was not included and Vallejo was added. Hence, some figures referenced below for Q3 2023 may differ slightly from the previous data update. (Note Please email info@bayareaequityatlas.org to request the annual reporting data for Tier 5 jurisdictions.)

Key Findings

As of September 30, 2023:

• Tier 1 and 2 jurisdictions in the Bay Area have made plans to spend $2.4 billion (79 percent) of their $3 billion SLFRF funds. There was a remaining $619 million (21 percent) that had not yet been obligated.

• The majority of funded projects (63 percent) are still in progress or have yet to launch. The share of completed projects increased slightly from 30 percent to 33 percent over the third quarter of 2023. These figures are for projects with a known completion status. Of all projects in the dataset, 10 percent do not include information on completion status.

• These local governments largely used SLFRF dollars to offset revenue loss. Nearly half of their obligated dollars (43 percent) have gone to revenue replacement, the same share as the previous data update.

• In addition to revenue replacement, many jurisdictions have made sizable investments to support communities weathering the financial and health challenges of the pandemic. This included 19 percent of total obligated funding to public health projects that were responding directly to Covid-19, 9 percent to advance housing justice, and 6 percent to bolster government infrastructure and services. From Q2 to Q3 2023, an additional $20.8 million has been obligated toward housing justice, $17.3 million toward revenue replacement, and $10.3 million toward community-based organizations. Even though Covid-19 response projects make up the second largest share of all obligated funding, only an additional $56,000 has been obligated toward these projects between Q2 and Q3 2023. This reflects localities shifting spending priorities from direct Covid-19 response towards housing and contributing to the general budget.

• Compared to the end of the second quarter of 2023, the share of total funds obligated in each spending category remains largely the same. This reflects the fact that the majority of obligated funding decisions were made toward the beginning of ARPA. While there has been some movement by localities in obligating funds across the region, hundreds of millions of dollars remain unobligated. Local governments have until the end of 2024 to make spending decisions, or they risk leaving money on the table.

• Between the end of June 2023 and September 2023, only 12 localities made additional obligations to their SLFRF funds. Alameda County, Sonoma County, Santa Clara County, Berkeley, San Jose, Milpitas, Santa Rosa, and Vacaville have all increased their share of obligated funds. 

• In the third quarter of 2023, both Milpitas and San Jose obligated their full SLFRF allocation. Milpitas obligated the remaining $3.6 million of their $16.7 million allocation, allocating nearly $3 million toward a new project that covers general recovery-related programming and $664,000 across 15 existing projects that supported government infrastructure and services, housing justice, public health, and youth empowerment. San Jose obligated the remaining $3.8 million of their allocated $212 million. This $3.8 million — in addition to $7.9 million re-obligated from funds previously designated for three projects for waste removal in homeless encampments, public information to aid in pandemic recovery, and housing assistance and temporary housing — is now obligated for revenue replacement.

• During the third quarter of 2023, Alameda County obligated the highest dollar amount at $33.2 million. The County added a total of $21.8 million for two projects that support housing justice and public health. Two new projects were also funded: $10 million for capacity building to improve service access for residents and $2.9 million toward small business grants. However, $1.5 million was reduced from funds that were previously obligated toward the emergency food distribution and meal program.

• Four places — Contra Costa County, San Leandro, Oakley, and South San Francisco — actually decreased the total amount of obligated SLFRF funds. For example, South San Francisco decreased their obligation for a climate infrastructure project by $890,000.

• Several places still have a considerable share of their SLFRF allocation unobligated. Rohnert Park, Richmond, and South San Francisco all have yet to obligate the majority of their funds. Eighty-three percent of Rohnert Park’s allocation, or $8.6 million, remains unobligated. Richmond and South San Francisco have not obligated 56 percent ($15.6 million) and 51 percent ($6.3 million) of their SLFRF allocation, respectively. San Francisco has more than $312 million and Santa Clara County has more than $127 million in unobligated funds remaining.

• A handful of municipalities used SLFRF dollars for policing and incarceration, which does not align with the stated intent of using these funds to advance equity. The cities of Mountain View and Santa Clara obligated a combined $30.6 million on police salaries and services. Milpitas, the City of Napa, San Leandro, and Vallejo have also obligated portions of their ARPA dollars toward policing.