Recovery.KingCounty.gov

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on Feb.17, 2009. Better known as the "economic stimulus act," ARRA provides extraordinary grants and funding opportunities for local governments. King County's ARRA funding requests are an important first step toward securing a better future for the residents of King County. These federal grants will help ensure essential local services, such as: public safety, transportation, workforce training, human services, and housing, as well as the protection of our natural resources and the environment.The federal government awards Recovery Act grant funds directly to local jurisdictions like King County (prime recipient), or funds are passed through state agencies for management by King County (sub-recipient). In addition, federal agencies follow formula-based criteria for distributing stimulus funds as well as offering funding via highly competitive grant processes.

The primary purpose of this Website is transparency and accountability; a convenient way for anyone to track the progress of all ARRA grants sought by the departments and agencies within King County -- from application, to award, to implementation.

The information reported here represents grants applied for by King County from Feb. 17 through Sept. 30, 2009. This site is updated monthly.

Progress report highlights

King County's ARRA funding requests are organized under the categories of: Energy & Environment; Health; Housing & Human Services; Public Safety; Technology; Transportation; and Workforce Training. Additional categories may be added in future reports.

Overview of ARRA grant status

At the end of the last reporting period ending Aug. 31, King County had applied for a total of 46 Recovery Act stimulus fund grants. Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30, the County was awarded two pass-through grants in the Housing and Human Services category. One had been previously applied for, but the County Recovery Act Coordinator had not been informed, thus it was not identified in previous iterations of this report. The other award was via a formula grant for which the State had received additional ARRA funding which in turn, was passed through to sub-recipients like King County. Finally, one "new" award listed in the Transportation category is the result of an amendment to a previously awarded grant. As of Sept. 30, 22 of King County's stimulus fund grant requests have been awarded; 12 are pending; and 15 have been denied.

Overall funding status

Currently, Recovery Act grant requests represent a total of $199,828,302 in potential stimulus funding. Of this potential, $97,098,428 has been awarded to King County programs or projects, while $26,184,746 applied for remains pending award notice.

Recovery Act grants awarded and pending represent an estimated potential of 534 jobs being creating and/or retained through stimulus funding. The grants awarded to King County represent an estimated 198 jobs created or retained. Pending awards represent an additional potential of 336 jobs that may be created or retained..

King County's Department of Development and Environmental Services (DDES) is taking steps to meet with project applicants that have indicated they have received (or anticipate receiving) stimulus funding. DDES is committed to strategizing ways with stimulus fund recipient project applicants to expedite permitting in an effort to ensure these projects are "shovel ready."

County agencies are also working collaboratively with regional and national partners in support of their ARRA grant applications. These efforts by our partners, with King County's support, represent an additional 10 grant applications from which King County may benefit. Of these 10 grants, five have been awarded, two are pending while three have been denied. In the category areas listed in the report, these efforts are identified under the heading "Collaboration with Regional Partners (ARRA Funding Application support)."