Salt Lake County 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 1

Salt Lake County

Preliminary Recovery Plan 

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

2021 Report
Salt Lake County 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 2

Salt Lake County

2021 Preliminary Recovery Plan

Table of Contents

General Overview..................................................................................................................... 3

Executive Summary................................................................................................................ 3

Uses of Funds ........................................................................................................................ 5

Promoting equitable outcomes .............................................................................................. 6

Community Engagement ....................................................................................................... 7

Labor Practices ..................................................................................................................... 7

Use of Evidence ..................................................................................................................... 8

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category.......................................................................... 9

Project Inventory.....................................................................................................................11
Salt Lake County 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 3

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Executive Summary 

In March, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act. This legislation established the 

Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which provides significant resources 

to state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to support urgent COVID-19 response efforts, 

such as:

• Responding to the pandemic’s public health and economic impacts on families and 

households, the workforce, businesses, and non-profits

• Providing premium pay to eligible public sector essential workers or grants to employers 

with eligible essential workers

• Replacing lost public sector revenue and restoring government service levels

• Investing in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure

As the largest metropolitan county in the State of Utah, Salt Lake County is allocated $225 M in 

the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The 2020 County population of 1,165,517 represents 

approximately 36% of Utah’s population. The Salt Lake City area, often referred to as "the 

crossroads of the west", is the largest metropolitan area between Phoenix and the Canadian 

border, north to south, and between Denver and California, east to west.

This report is intended to be preliminary as Salt Lake County has yet to go through its annual 

budget process. Per Treasury guidance, the plan will be updated when possible. Policy makers 

intend to utilize the normal, non-emergency linear budget process for the appropriations of ARPA 

dollars. In Salt Lake County, this process entails the Mayor soliciting budget requests from her 

portfolio and independently elected officials and making a budget proposal to the County Council. 

The process concludes with a formal appropriation by the Council. All appropriations will be vetted 

by the legal/finance team established for this purpose. The Council process begins in October 

and concludes the first week of December 2021. An annual review of the ARPA appropriations 

will be conducted during the annual budget process to expend ARPA funds over the next three 

years. As planning and appropriations are established, the report will be bolstered with actual 

data and associated action plans. This interim report identifies the current status of ARPA 

planning.

The first step taken by Mayor Jennifer Wilson was to convene her executive team to brainstorm 

possibilities for ARPA dollars. A consultant was hired to facilitate the session in May 2021. In 

turn, during June and July, the Mayor facilitated sessions with all executive elected officials of 

Salt Lake County, as well as the nine-member County Council. The results of the sessions are 

being compiled now and are informing budget requests. Policy makers also reviewing the interim 

guidance from the Treasury and are awaiting the Treasury’s Final Rule before finalizing the 

County’s plans to expend the funding.

In addition, budget direction was issued to all program managers in Salt Lake County to bring 

forward ideas for ARPA dollars. Priority will be given to initiatives that combat the COVID 

pandemic, as well as programming for Salt Lake County’s most vulnerable population. The 
Salt Lake County 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 4

budget sessions are currently under way. Budget meetings by design precede the Mayor’s 

proposed budget at the end of October.

Shortly after the March 6, 2020, declared emergency, the County adopted an adjusted budget for 

Fiscal Year 2020 including approximately $77 million in cuts. The predicted shortfall in budgeted 

revenues affected almost all the funds in the County’s budget. Certain special revenue fund sales 

taxes declined dramatically (these boutique taxes include restaurant, car rental, and hotel taxes), 

as did certain economic sectors within the county’s general sales taxes. There were also 

significant declines in operating revenues for some County operations that were impacted by the 

health restrictions, such as recreation, arts and culture, convention, and other community 

services.

As both health restrictions and public concern have subsided all the depressed economic sectors 

are recovering, but some will likely not reach 2019 levels until 2023. Most revenues will be below 

the pre-COVID trajectory for years. Assuming the County’s revenue growth would have continued 

at the same rate experienced from 2017-2019, the cumulative lost revenue due to the pandemic 

is estimated to be $389M by 2023, as detailed in the chart below.

Employment generally recovered quickly but remains depressed in a few industries. Of note is 

the large increase in unemployment filings from female claimants in the three peak months, a 

reversal of prior trends in the County. The chart below shows the filings by gender.
Salt Lake County 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 5

While most industry sectors experienced a decline in 2020, as of July 2021, total employment has 

increased but levels in four of the most disrupted sectors remain lower than 2019: 

leisure/hospitality, government, other services, and information. The table below shows job 

growth and decline by industry compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic).

Uses of Funds

For the reporting period, no ARPA SLFRF funds have been allocated. Policy makers are 

reviewing the interim guidance from the Treasury and are awaiting the Treasury’s Final Rule 

before finalizing the County’s plans to expend the funding.

Salt Lake County may need a portion of the ARPA dollars to continue normal government 

operations. Overall county appropriations are still down from 2019 levels. The County acted 

swiftly in March of 2020 taking several actions to combat the pending recession. These actions 

included an immediate hiring freeze as well as appropriation reductions totaling $78 million, or 

roughly 7.5% of ongoing operations. This was necessitated by substantially reduced revenues in 

certain sectors of the overall budget. 
Salt Lake County 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 6

Programming for Parks and Recreation, Arts and Culture, Conventions and Tourism are heavily 

dependent on transient room taxes, car rental taxes and restaurant taxes. These sectors were 

hit hard as the pandemic took hold, with transient room taxes dropping in excess of 80% for some 

reporting periods. These revenue sources have now stabilized and are starting to recover, with 

the caveat the county is experiencing an additional outbreak of COVID. Nevertheless, restoring 

certain appropriations may be prioritized, especially to the extent the programs are designed to 

assist the most impacted sectors of our economy. 

Preliminary estimates project 100% of ARPA dollars will qualify under the “revenue replacement” 

category. As previously mentioned, this is not the primary priority for the use of ARPA dollars, 

but it is comforting from a financial perspective to have the increased flexibility associated with 

that specific spending category. It also necessitates going through the normal county budget 

process prior to making final appropriations of ARPA funding.

A legal/financial/performance working group was created to review all spending plans to ensure 

legal compliance, and financial reporting integrity in line with the law and guidance. This group 

has been meeting since the passage of ARPA. The group is responsible to interpret the SLFRF 

Interim Final Rule and the Compliance and Reporting Performance Reporting Guidance,

operationalize an application process, create accountability, and collect and report required 

performance measures to the Department of Treasury and the public. The Working Group 

includes representatives from the County District Attorney’s Office, Mayor’s Finance, Mayor’s 

Administration including the Mayor’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Emergency Services, 

County Auditor, Contracts & Procurement, Department of Human Services, and Office of Data & 

Innovation. The Working Group has created an internal portal for County agencies to access a 

quick reference guide, a draft online application to apply for ARPA SLFRF funds, and provided 

links to various Treasury training resources. The members of the Working Group have also 

attended several Treasury, GFOA, and NACO webinars to better understand the reporting 

requirements. 

From March 3rd to July 31st, 2021, Salt Lake County expended approximately $42M responding 

to the pandemic’s public health and economic impacts. Some of these expenses will be 

reimbursed via FEMA public assistance and other grants. The remaining COVID costs since 

March 3rd, 2021, will also be considered for use of ARPA funding through the processes described 

above.

Promoting equitable outcomes 

Our vision is for Salt Lake County to be a place where everyone is given the equitable access to 

opportunities; a place where we act intentionally to connect people of all backgrounds to achieve 

their highest potential. Salt Lake County continues to be a certified Welcoming County, through 

the Office for New Americans. In 2021, the Council on Diversity Affairs (CODA), under the Mayor’s 

Office of Diversity & Inclusion, adopted a community identified long-range plan addressing change 

in systemic programs, policies, and practices countywide. The CODA action plan is administered

by subject matter experts in the field of Housing, Economic Opportunities, Human Resources, 

Criminal Justice & Law Enforcement, Health Initiatives, and Rising Young Leaders. The CODA
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Subcommittees meet monthly, working with community leaders to identify, shape and guide the 

development and implementation of Salt Lake County’s priorities. 

During 2020 and 2021, Salt Lake County implemented a robust workforce focused on erasing 

gaps in service distribution to vulnerable populations by distributing $28.8 million in rental 

assistance, community grants for vaccine outreach geared towards community base 

organizations, an equitable vaccine distribution taskforce, and targeted economic inclusion 

programs. Each program has developed opportunities to facilitate service application assistance 

with program coordinators, community health workers, and grants such as Economic Inclusion 

Community Assistance Program. Salt Lake County continues to steward pragmatic solutions to 

service and aid gaps.

Community Engagement 

Salt Lake County is also currently designing a community engagement process to receive public 

input on possible spending solutions. The process will be tailored around the ideas generated by 

the facilitated elected official sessions as well as from employee input received during the budget 

meetings. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on gathering feedback from traditionally 

underserved groups, including people of color, low-income and those with limited English 

proficiency. The county will lean on its existing Diversity and Inclusion framework, organized 

around the Council on Diversity Affairs (CODA), and augment as necessary. 

Labor Practices 

Salt Lake County is currently formulating its priorities to determine the best use of SLFRF funds. 

Currently, no funds are allocated to infrastructure projects. 

In general, the County has robust Human Resources policies and compliance records to adhere 

to the prevailing wage and other labor requirements through state and federal grant programs 

including the Davis-Bacon Act. The County also has a strong Employee Relations program to 

provide guidance and training in the areas of EEO, ADA, and FMLA. 

Salt Lake County also engages with employee associations to discuss employee-related matters 

including employees’ representation and advice on HR-related policies. 

The County regularly conducts market studies to ensure fair and competitive wages for its 

workforce. A compensation advisory committee, the Total Rewards Advisory Committee, was 

created to engage with various stakeholders including elected officials and department heads. 

The objective of the Advisory Committee is to provide input on the Total Compensation Project 

recommendations and county-wide compensation and benefits programs. 

Salt Lake County’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion organized a summer internship program to 

hire interns with a diverse demographic in race, ethnicity, economic and educational backgrounds. 

Interns had a two-tier internship opportunity, with the first tier pairing them with staff leads in areas 

such as Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement, Health Initiatives, Human Resources, Data & 

Innovation, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office for New Americans, and in the Salt Lake 

County Mayor’s Office. In addition, interns had the opportunity to work in concert with the COVID19 vaccination team, implementing research focused on outreach strategies, community 
Salt Lake County 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 8

engagement with local businesses and other service centric organizations, to schedule and set 

up vaccination clinics targeting underrepresented communities in Salt Lake County. 

Recently, Salt Lake County and Salt Lake County Library Services have been recognized by 

Forbes for the second year in a row as two of America’s Best-In-State Employers.

Salt Lake County awards contracts for goods or services through a fair and open competitive 

procurement process. Salt Lake County also provides a preference system in procurement that 

encourages responsible business practices, health care for employees, small, women-owned, or 

minority-owned emerging business enterprises, and veterans hiring. Additionally, the County has 

minimum standards and an apprenticeship utilization program for construction procurements that 

promote the health and safety of the workforce, job training, improve the skills of the workforce, 

and enhance the economic vitality of the county.

Use of Evidence 

Salt Lake County will employ strong data and analytics for SLFRF funded projects when 

applicable. The County’s Office of Data & Innovation is assisting with SLFRF program 

development. The use of evidence and/or program evaluation will be paramount in reviewing 

applications for SLFRF funding requests from the County agencies as well as external partners 

and subrecipients.

Salt Lake County is considered a leader in implanting new and innovative interventions when it 

comes to evidence-based interventions and program evaluation. Salt Lake County was one of the 

first in the nation to launch Pay for Success (PFS) programs. The County has undertaken several 

PFS initiatives including: 

• Criminal Justice REACH project (https://pfs.urban.org/pfs-project-fact-sheets/content/saltlake-county-s-reach-program). 

• Homes Not Jail (https://pfs.urban.org/pfs-project-fact-sheets/content/salt-lake-county-shomes-not-jail-program). 

• Early Childhood Education

(https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/docs/pay for success guide.pdf) 

The successful implementation of these programs proves that Salt Lake County will rigorously 

use evidence-based interventions and program evaluation to ensure successful outcomes of 

SLFRF funded projects.