Cities recently received a share of $20 million in city assistance funds allocated in the state’s 2021-2023 operating budget. These are one-time funds to offset costs generated by law enforcement and criminal justice related legislation enacted
between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021.
Many cities have been asking for specific guidance on permissible uses of the funds. No additional guidance has been issued by the Office of Financial Management (OFM) or the Legislature. Cities can refer to the proviso language in the adopted operating
budget, SB 5092, under Section 739 on page 507, which reads
as follows:
The appropriation in this section is subject to the following conditions and limitations: The appropriation in this section is provided solely for the office of financial management to distribute to cities according to population to assist with one-time costs related to law enforcement and criminal justice related legislation enacted between January 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021.
It is worth noting that there is no specific list available that indicates which legislation the proviso language specifically refers to; however, many law enforcement bills passed this year. You can see a partial list in our session recap article.
The city assistance funds were originally identified in a House budget proposal as a recognition that the Legislature needed to address any unfunded mandates. The original proposal was for higher amount and the eventual $20 million settled upon was included
in the final adopted budget after negotiations concluded. AWC was pleased to see the Legislature recognize the need to provide these dollars and avoid creating unfunded mandates. However, we also acknowledge that while we do not have full cost estimates
for the impact of implementing law enforcement legislation passed this year, we suspect that cities’ costs exceed the $20 million provided.
As you speak with your local legislators, please thank them for working to provide these funds and be sure to tell them about all the costs of providing law enforcement in your community.