Santa Fe gets $17.6M for pandemic relief
County receives over $10.5M from federal CARES Act
The city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County scored big in a statewide competition for a coveted share of $150 million in pass-through funding from the federal CARES Act.
Of the $100 million Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had set aside for local governments to seek reimbursement for novel coronavirus-related expenses, the city and county governments of Santa Fe received awards of $28.1 million combined, or more than a quarter. The city’s share is almost $17.6 million. The county’s: just over $10.5 million.
A request for money from a separate fund of $50 million for small-business grants brought the city and the county, along with the town of Edgewood, almost $3.8 million — for a grand total of $31.9 million in available funding.
Mayor Alan Webber expressed gratitude to the governor and her team Tuesday, saying they’re providing a “tremendous level of support” not just for Santa Fe but for cities and counties around the state.
“I give [the governor] all the credit for making that happen,” Webber said. “I also appreciate the confidence that the allocation expresses in Santa Fe. I think the fact that we received such a substantial sum of money based on the performance that we have done so far is a real vote of confidence in the city’s response to COVID-19.”
The state Department of Finance and Administration scored applicants on various criteria, including compliance with the governor’s public health orders, which some elected officials around the state opposed publicly and even defied, as well as enforcement efforts.
“What the allocation tells me is that the governor’s criteria rewarded
communities that acted quickly and effectively to protect their community against COVID-19, and now they’re recognizing that we’ll use that money well,” Webber said. “They’re giving us additional resources to put into the community to help people who are still being deeply affected by the coronavirus.”
Over the past several weeks, lawmakers have expressed skepticism about the administration’s decision to include the enforcement of public health regulations as a criterion to receive federal funds.
The Governor’s Office said the Department of Finance and Administration scored applications based on criteria “related to local government revenue lost due to expenses made responding directly to the health crisis.”
“DFA has vast experience in scoring applications and scoring them fairly,” acting Finance and Administration Secretary Debbie Romero said in a statement. “We were able to complete an expeditious and equitable process, and we’ll keep working with local governments all across the state to make sure these essential funds get out the door.”
Mary McCoy, the city of Santa Fe’s finance director, told council members on the Finance Committee late Monday that Santa Fe received the third-highest score among all the local governments that applied for funding. The city had requested $25.1 million in grant funding for local governments.
“We are very appreciative to the state, to the governor, for allocating and making these funds available at such a critical time,” McCoy said.
Santa Fe City Councilor Jamie Cassutt-Sanchez and other council members said they appreciated the Finance Department’s work to secure what they described as much-needed funding for a city government that slashed spending and implemented other cost-cutting measures to close what ended up being a nearly $83 million budget deficit in the current fiscal year.
“I know it was a lot [of work], and you had tempered expectations to say like, ‘Maybe $10 million,’ ” Cassutt-Sanchez said. “The [$17.6 million] is really exciting.”
The city, which made its case for the funds in a 17-page application, is in the process of developing a spending plan. The county has said it wants to use the funding for housing and rental assistance, social and community services, and other virus-related expenses. Its proposal also included requests for COVID-19 services already incurred and not reimbursed by other sources. It also requested funding for expenditures through the end of the year.
“Santa Fe County’s focus is getting this money out into the community as quickly as possible,” said county spokeswoman Carmelina Hart.
The competition for funds amid the economic downturn was stiff.
The Department of Finance and Administration received 83 applications for local government grants totaling $183.7 million and 66 applications for the $50 million fund for small-business grants.
“Every applicant received funding,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “No one gets left behind. There is still more to do, and together we will continue fighting this virus with everything we’ve got.”
While each applicant was awarded a grant, some governments fared better than others.
The town of Kirtland in northwestern New Mexico requested — and received — the smallest grant: $1,000.
McKinley County in northwestern New Mexico, which has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases among counties in the state, requested the most: $30 million. It was awarded $16.1 million.
The city of Roswell, where the City Council voted in July not to enforce the governor’s public health orders, was awarded about $5.5 million — less than half its $12.7 million request.
Steve Kopelman, executive director of New Mexico Counties, said he hadn’t yet spoken with many municipalities, but he thought the process was carried out objectively.
“I’m not sure how the scoring was done, but just looking at the numbers on a cursory review it seemed reasonable,” Kopelman said.
Belen Mayor Jerah Cordova said that while he wasn’t clear on how the applications were scored, he was “happy” to receive some reimbursement for the city’s COVID-19 expenditures.
The city received $67,500 of the $200,000 it had applied for.
“I don’t believe it was political in any way,” Cordova said.
Otero County Manager Pamela Heltner said she didn’t know why her county received $168,750, only about a third of the $500,000 it applied for.
“I am not disappointed and am pleased we are able to assist our small businesses during the pandemic,” Heltner said.
The city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County were ineligible to apply for the pass-through funds.
As governments with populations exceeding 500,000, they received CARES Act funds directly from the federal government.
Staff reporter Jens Gould contributed to this story.