New York City Comptroller COVID-19
FY 2024 Federal Stimulus Fund Tracker

The Federal Government enacted unprecedented expansionary fiscal policy in response to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. New Yorkers received billions of dollars, both directly through checks, loan programs, and unemployment insurance, and indirectly through Federal grants to the City and other governmental entities. The City government has been awarded more than $26 billion in total to be spent by FY 2028, including FEMA reimbursement and other pandemic relief funds.

The Office of the Comptroller is publishing available information on how the funds are spent to give the public access to granular information and allow detailed analysis. The structure of the data feed will be updated as changes are made in the City’s financial plan, starting with the FY 2023 Preliminary Financial Plan published in February 2022. For FY 2024, the public can track spending of $3.06 billion in Federal aid, specifically American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) education grants and ARPA State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). Final FY 2023 Tracker is also available for download.

FY 2024 Stimulus Tracker Data

Top Agencies by Budgeted Amount (June 2024 Plan)

Top Agencies by Committed Amount (Committed data as of 9/05/24)

Note:

  1. Budget details reflect expenditure budget code allocation of stimulus funding in the June 2024 Plan.
    The June 2024 Plan data is not available for download from the Checkbook Budget Domain or Budget Advance Search.
  2. Year-to-date commitments do not include any new stimulus spending budget codes introduced after the June 2024 Plan.
  3. Committed amount includes expenses and amounts reserved for expenditures including pre-encumbrances and encumbrances.

Since March 2020, Congress passed six pieces of legislation to address the devastating public health and economic impacts of the pandemic. The major components are:

  • The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of March 2020, which included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), stimulus checks for individuals and families, expanded unemployment insurance benefits, and $150 billion in direct relief for state and local governments, among many other measures.
  • The $900 billion Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) of December 2020, contained within the larger Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, included additional stimulus checks, renewed PPP loans, enhanced unemployment benefits and funding for school reopening and response to the pandemic.
  • The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of March 2021. Among its wide-ranging provisions, ARPA included additional funding for schools and $350 billion in flexible aid to state and local governments through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF).

As of the June 2024 Financial Plan, the City has recognized a total of $22 billion in FY 2020 through FY 2023 and anticipates receiving an additional $4.3 billion in FY 2024-FY 2028. Of the $4.3 billion total, about $3.6 billion is recognized in FY 2024. Federal Stimulus funding is expected to fall significantly going forward, as $2 billion in ARPA education grants would expire after FY 2024. In addition, ARPA SLFRF grants would expire during FY 2025, bringing total stimulus grants estimates down to $606 million in FY 2025. After which, a total of about $113 million in residual funding is reflected across FY 2026-FY 2028. Note that these funds exclude direct assistance to individuals, businesses, healthcare providers, and other governmental entities.

FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 June 2024 PLAN* Total
FEMA $1,146,975,945 $3,064,305,383 $2,659,706,466 $355,668,865 $13,703,503 $7,240,360,163
SLFRF - 975,858,579 2,872,421,137 495,559,886 1,534,325,970 5,878,165,572
ESF - 944,917,428 2,874,596,277 2,019,877,170 2,150,354,366 7,989,745,242
CRF 730,110,838 529,147,366 195,452,074 - - 1,454,710,278
ELC 41,527,177 851,293,495 381,083,050 115,090,310 228,726,693 1,617,720,724
All Other 104,901,880 497,379,645 1,006,304,401 168,460,586 414,922,977 2,191,969,490
$2,023,515,840 $6,862,901,896 $9,989,563,406 $3,154,656,817 $4,342,033,509 $26,372,671,468
*Reflects June 2024 Plan totals for FY 2024 through FY 2028.

Summary of Sources of Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds to New York City ($ in billions)

The SLFRF awarded $5.88 billion in flexible relief funding to New York City to fight the pandemic, maintain public services, and support the recovery. The City has received the full $5.88 billion funding as of the first quarter of FY 2023. Funds must be used for costs incurred between March 3, 2021 and December 31, 2024, and expended by December 31, 2026. State and local governments must submit periodic reports to the U.S. Treasury, and funding is subject to recoupment for violations of eligibility guidelines.

Eligible Uses of SLFRF Funds

Under U.S. Treasury guidance, four broad categories of spending are eligible for funding:

  1. To respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts;
  2. To provide premium pay to workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 public health emergency;
  3. For the provision of government services, to the extent of the reduction in revenue due to the COVID–19 public health emergency; and
  4. To make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.

Certain types of expenses are also explicitly ineligible, including deposits into a pension fund, direct funding of debt service, satisfying a judgment or settlement, or contributing to a “rainy day” fund.

Based on guidance from the U.S. Treasury, New York City could use the entire $5.88 billion SLFRF allocation for “revenue replacement.” Through calendar year 2021, the City’s cumulative revenue shortfall totals more than $10 billion, as defined by Treasury formulas which assume that City-sourced revenue, including tax revenue and miscellaneous revenue, would have grown by as much as 5.2% per year in the absence of COVID-19. Under Treasury’s counterfactual scenario, New York City would have collected $72.8 billion in calendar year 2020 and $76.6 billion in 2021, compared to actual revenue of $66.8 billion and $72.0 billion. While City revenues increased, they fell short of the counterfactual established by Treasury.

Planned Uses of SLFRF Funds

As required, New York City published its fourth Annual Recovery Plan on spending and planned uses in 2024. In accordance with Treasury requirements for large cities, New York City must submit a Project and Expenditure Report 30 days after the end of each quarter.

For reporting purposes, Treasury has instructed recipients to categorize spending into the following groups:

  1. Public health, including but not limited to COVID-19 vaccination, testing and contract tracing; prevention in congregate settings; and mental health services.
  2. Negative economic impacts, including but not limited to food programs, rent assistance, and aid to nonprofit organizations.
  3. Services to disproportionately impacted communities, including but not limited to early learning, academic services, and community violence interventions.
  4. Premium pay. The City has not allocated any funding in this category.
  5. Investments in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure. The City has not allocated any funding in this category.
  6. Revenue replacement for the provision of government services, to the extent that revenues have fallen compared to baseline projections. The City intends to spend the entire $5.88 billion for "revenue replacement."
  7. Administrative, including evaluation and data analysis. The City has not allocated any funding in this category.

More than half of the City’s SLFRF is allocated to revenue replacement. This classification is not tied to budget documents and spending against the corresponding initiatives cannot be tracked.

New York City was awarded nearly $8 billion in federal education pandemic relief and response funding through CARES, CRRSAA, and ARPA under the umbrella of Education Stabilization Fund. CARES Act funds must be obligated (that is, committed to a specific purpose by, for instance, entering into a contract or by rendering services) by September 30, 2022; CRRSAA funds must be obligated by September 30, 2023; and ARPA funds must be obligated by September 30, 2024. Of the total, $7.68 billion was awarded to the Department of Education (DOE) and $220 million was awarded to the City University of New York (CUNY).

These funds may be used for a wide range of spending to respond to health and safety issues and to support students’ academic, social, emotional and mental health needs

For FY 2024, the DOE has provided the following programmatic breakdown for its stimulus spending. The funding is allocated across major categories consisting of School Budget Support ($784 million), Mandates and Administration Priorities ($377 million), Continuity of Services ($634 million), Academic Support ($181 million), and Other ($63 million). Among the larger and more notable individual initiatives are 3K Expansion ($469 million), Summer Rising ($80 million), Enrollment Support ($160 million), Special Education Pre-kindergarten Support ($90 million), mental health support services ($79 million), and Emergency Contract for Nurses ($65 million).

Education Spending Supported by Federal Stimulus Funds ($ millions) FY 2024 Plan
School Budget Support
     3K Expansion $469
     Academic Recovery SAM (Arts) 25
     Special Education Recovery Services 50
     Summer Rising Expansion 80
     Enrollment Change Support (excludes fringe) 160
Subtotal School Budget Support $784
Mandates and Administration Priorities:
     Special Education Pre-k Support $90
     Emergency Contract for Nurses 65
     PSAL 27
     Devices & IT Support 40
     Translation and Interpretation 7
     School Safety/Project Pivot 15
     Mental Health Supports Expansion & Screeners 79
     Academic Assessments 10
     Literacy Investments and Dyslexia Screening 7
     Pathways Expansion 23
     CUNY MOUs (part of Pathways programming) 8
     Other School Support) 6
Subtotal Mandates and Admin Priorities $377
Continuity of Services $634
Academic Support:
     Computer Science for All Expansion (part of Pathways programming) $10
     Bilingual Education Programs 9
     Parent and Family Engagement 3
     Digital Learning 6
     Gifted and Talented 1
     Learn to Work 32
     Affinity 10
     New Visions 9
     Restorative Justice 8
     Community Schools Expansion 50
     CRSE & Professional Learning 44
Subtotal Academic Support $181
Other
     Accessibility, Infrastructure, & Other School Building Investments $50
     Reopening 2
     Other Central Support 11
Subtotal Other $63
Total $2,039

Source: NYC Department of Education.