Denver’s $4.95 million homeland security grant has $581,000 in election funds on hold
Denver’s three-year federal grant includes $580,992.65 for election security that cannot be spent or contracted until FEMA lifts the hold and the state issues written notice.
Denver’s three-year, $4.95 million federal homeland security grant includes $580,992.65 designated for election security that is on hold, limiting the city’s ability to spend or contract for those projects.
The grant covers Sept. 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028, and provides $4,946,929.35 in federal funds with no required local match. The executed grant agreement identifies the City and County of Denver as the grantee and Denver’s Office of Emergency Management as the regional administrator. The award was made through the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The agreement lists the election-security money under “Projects On Hold.” It bars Denver from entering vendor agreements, obligating or spending the money, or requesting reimbursement for the affected work until the Federal Emergency Management Agency rescinds the hold and the state provides written notice through a grant amendment.
The grant’s approved project list includes mobile vehicle barriers, bomb-squad radio systems, mass-fatality and reunification work, decontamination equipment, emergency animal sheltering, radiation detectors, cybersecurity work and regional exercises. It names the Denver Police Department, Douglas County, Denver regional bomb squads, Denver Health, Denver Animal Protection, South Metro Fire and Arvada Fire among the agencies and jurisdictions that could receive funding or equipment, but does not assign individual dollar amounts.
The agreement does not state what prompted the hold in Denver’s case. FEMA’s fiscal-year 2025 grant guidance says national-priority funds may be held pending project-level effectiveness reviews or when proposed projects do not sufficiently meet national-priority requirements; that guidance does not establish the reason for Denver’s hold.
Separately, a proposed Denver ordinance would authorize the Office of Emergency Management to purchase seven Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers with integrated pumps. The ordinance document records committee approval by consent on Sept. 1, 2026, and lists Sept. 8 as the mayor-council date, but it does not establish final enactment or purchase.