Follow the stimulus money, if you can
By Tillie Fong 
| July 10, 2009 | 7:00 AM
The city of Denver is expected to receive $52.6 million in federal stimulus money by the end of September. But trying to track down details on how, when and where the money will be spent isn’t easy, despite the multiple government Web sites designed for that purpose.
For example, the city’s stimulus-tracking Web site was set up several months ago by the mayor’s office to help residents understand how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will benefit them.
Two charts on the front page list the grants awarded to Denver. Formula grants are allocated by the federal government in pre-determined amounts. Competitive grants are allocated for specific projects and are awarded after a competitive application process.
Each chart lists the agency that made the grant, a short description of what the money is for, and the amount. Aside from that, there is little additional information, and the site indicates that the charts have not been updated since April 16.
Let’s try to follow one item from the formula-grant chart: a food assistance grant from the Department of Agriculture for about $274,000. Which agency or agencies got that funding? When? What did they use the money for? How many jobs did it create? How many people did the money help? How much has been spent already?
You won’t find that information by clicking on the link in the chart to the agriculture department. Instead, it takes you to a Web page with a lengthier but still fairly general description of the program that the funding targets: in this case, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which used to be known as the Food Stamp Program. But, at least on this site, there aren’t any answers to our questions.
Back on Denver’s stimulus-tracking site, you can find a few more details on this grant — but only if you’ve managed to stumble upon the “Oversight Committee” box on the right side of the main page and the “Summary of Grants” links.
The links are posted after meetings of the Mayor’s Economic Stimulus Oversight Committee, which gathers once a month. So far, it has met only twice, most recently on Thursday.
Clicking on the link for Thursday’s summary prompts the download of a spreadsheet document. There, a more detailed chart breaks down grant information into categories: Community, Education, Green, Housing, Human Services, Infrastructure, Safety and Workforce.
Under the Human Services category, you see that the Denver Department of Human Services got the $273,633 grant for the food assistance program and that it is a formula grant that must be spent by Sept. 30. An additional description tells you that the money will be used ”for staff overtime to address the current backlog.” The grant’s progress is marked “awarded.”
That answers some of our questions. But what about data on job creation? Or people helped by the program? Or how much of the money already has been spent?
It doesn’t say.
In fact, you won’t find that information unless you attend one of the oversight committee meetings and someone from the agency that receives the money gives a briefing on the subject.
On Thursday, Jay Morein, director of business management for the Department of Human Services, gave a presentation on the food assistance grant to the oversight committee.
He noted that in the first six months of 2009, Denver received 2,906 new applications for food assistance, compared with 2,191 applications in the same period last year, about a 33 percent increase. As the spreadsheet indicated, the grant money from the stimulus plan is being used to pay overtime so that existing staff can process the extra applications more quickly.
So, no new jobs were created, but apparently 715 additional applications were processed. Morein didn’t address how much of the grant money has been spent or how many staff members have been paid overtime, but the agency has until Sept. 30 to spend it all.
So why is it so hard to pin down information about the federal stimulus money? Officials said that a lot of it has to do with the fact that these grants are made by different federal agencies and that most of the money is being used to expand existing programs, not create new ones.
“There are different timelines run by the different agencies,” said Stephanie K. Adams, manager of performance initiatives with Denver’s Budget and Management Office. “When you get the dollars, you’re bound by the guidelines and the deadlines of the grantors.”
In some cases, such as with the formula grants, the city or an agency applies for a grant and gets a notice that it has been approved. But to actually get the money, the city or agency has to submit a plan indicating that it has contracted with someone to provide the services. In some cases, the grant money is used to reimburse an agency for running an existing program.
“They don’t write us a check,” Adams said. “It’s a drawdown process. You’re given a notice to proceed and you draw down funds in quarterly installments. You have to show that you have spent the money.”
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More resources for tracking stimulus money:
- The state of Colorado’s ARRA Web site
- The national ARRA Web site
- Stimulus Watch, which was created by a researcher on government transparency and accountability
- Eye on the Stimulus, from Pro Publica
denver, federal stimulus money, food assistance, government, grant, recovery
