Bay Area Recovery Dollars Data Update: July 2, 2024

The latest quarterly reporting data from the US Treasury reflects local governments' allocation of SLFRF funds through December 31, 2023. 

SLFRF recipients are organized into five tiers.1 The dashboard includes Tier 1 and Tier 2 jurisdictions, which were required to submit a quarterly report for Q3 2023. There are 34 cities reflected in the dashboard. 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, which are listed below, compare Q3 2023 and Q4 2023 data for Tier 1 and 2 jurisdictions. In the Q4 2023 dataset, San Bruno was added. Hence, some figures referenced below for Q4 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

Note: These key findings are current as of December 31, 2023, the most recent data release from the US Treasury. Given this data lag, the dashboard data may not reflect the most current obligation decisions.

The December 31, 2024 deadline to obligate SLFRF funds is fast approaching. Localities have until the end of this year to complete their obligation or the remaining dollars will be returned to the US Treasury. According to the US Treasury final rule, obligation means “an order placed for property and services and entering into contracts, subawards, and similar transactions that require payment.” However, there are concerns that local governments have not properly obligated funds in alignment with this criteria. This would mean that after 2024, jurisdictions that did not properly obligate their SLFRF dollars may have to return the funds to the US Treasury.

Across the region, many localities are experiencing budget shortfalls that may threaten funding for essential services and programs. SLFRF dollars could serve as a short-term relief for many places with money still on the table. To advance an equitable recovery for the region, local policymakers and budget justice advocates should leverage this window and ensure that the remaining recovery dollars are fully obligated before the December 31, 2024 deadline.

As of December 31, 2023:

  • Tier 1 and 2 jurisdictions in the Bay Area have made plans to spend $2.5 billion (81 percent) of their $3 billion SLFRF funds. There was a remaining $566 million (19 percent) that had not yet been obligated.

  • Local governments largely used SLFRF dollars to offset revenue loss. Nearly half of their obligated dollars (42 percent) have gone to revenue replacement, about the same share as the previous data update.

  • The majority of funded projects (61 percent) are still in progress or have yet to launch. The share of completed projects increased slightly from 33 percent to 35 percent over the last quarter of 2023. These figures are for projects with a known completion status. Of all projects in the dataset, 9 percent do not include information on completion status.

  • 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 18 percent of total obligated funding being allocated 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 Q3 to Q4 2023, an additional $20 million was obligated toward good jobs, $13 million toward government infrastructure and services, $9 million toward housing justice, and $8.5 million toward revenue replacement. The $20 million for good jobs was a new investment in the Early Learning Apprenticeship Initiative, a childcare apprenticeship pilot in Santa Clara County.

  • Compared to the end of the third 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, there is still half a billion dollars that have not been obligated. Local governments have until the end of 2024 to make spending decisions or risk leaving money on the table.

  • Between the end of September 2023 and December 2023, only 12 localities made additional obligations to their SLFRF funds. Contra Costa County, Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, Sonoma County, Berkeley, Hayward, Oakley, Pittsburg, Richmond, Santa Rosa, South San Francisco, and Vacaville have all increased their share of obligated funds. Santa Clara County obligated $20 million in the last quarter of 2023 — the most of all jurisdictions —  toward its childcare apprenticeship pilot. While San Mateo County increased its obligated dollars, there were also shifts across individual projects. The county added about $2.2 million to existing projects and $5 million to new projects. At the same time, the county also reduced $1.2 million from existing projects, including a grant program for private businesses and a summer enrichment program.

  • Three cities — Concord, Milpitas, and Napa — made no changes to the total dollar amount obligated, but each of them shifted funding across individual projects. The City of Napa added nearly $4 million across six existing projects and four new projects that focus on housing justice, government infrastructure and services, and community infrastructure. The city also reduced funding for one project and completely defunded two projects, including a $2.8 million project for Project Roomkey. Milpitas added $875,000 toward 14 existing projects and one new project mostly in government infrastructure and services, good jobs, and childcare, while the city reduced the funds for a mobile emergency operations center project. Concord shifted $2,400 from an employee Covid testing program toward general administration support for ARPA programming.

  • Over three-quarters of newly obligated dollars went toward new projects, but many existing projects also saw their budgets increase. Of the $72 million that was added to projects, $56 million was earmarked for new projects and $16 million was earmarked for existing projects. Of the 71 projects that were obligated new or additional resources, 45 were existing projects and 26 were new projects. Existing projects that saw an increase in funding mainly focus on housing justice ($5.1 million), government infrastructure and services ($3.7 million), and community safety ($1.5 million). Newly-funded projects focused on good jobs ($20 million from Santa Clara County), government infrastructure and services ($11.7 million), and community infrastructure ($7.3 million).

  • In the last quarter of 2023, only Richmond obligated their full SLFRF allocation. Richmond obligated the remaining $15.6 million of their $27.7 million allocation. The city put $4.2 million toward three soccer fields in community parks, the highest amount of any new project. They also obligated $10.2 million across 10 new projects that support housing justice, private business, community infrastructure, youth empowerment, and government infrastructure and services. The city also added $1 million toward existing projects in HVAC upgrades to community centers that primarily service low-income communities of color.

  • Solano County actually decreased the total amount of obligated SLFRF funds. The county canceled a $600,000 affordable housing project in Fairfield. Additionally, the county also shifted funds between two existing housing projects — moving $1.7 million from a potential project to increase affordable accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to another project for a county-level housing trust fund. The budget for the ADU project now stands at $300,000, while $4.7 million has been allocated to the housing trust fund project.

  • Twenty-one localities still have a considerable share of their SLFRF allocation unobligated. Rohnert Park has the largest share of unobligated funds at 83 percent, unchanged from the previous quarter. San Francisco ($312.4 million) and Santa Clara County ($107.1 million) have the largest dollar amounts still unobligated.

  • 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 to police salaries and services. Milpitas, the City of Napa, San Leandro, and Vallejo have also obligated portions of their ARPA dollars toward policing.

    1 A previous version of the dashboard that reflected Q1 2023 data had 94 cities because it included Tier 5 jurisdictions. Please email info@bayareaequityatlas.org to request the annual reporting data for Tier 5 jurisdictions.

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