Funding Resources

Funding is critical to implement resilience practices and measures in your community. While allocating general funds is one option, often that is not enough to cover the full breadth of work that needs to be done. Thankfully, there are many grants, loans, tax credits, and other resources available to communities in Colorado. Check out the resources above and subscribe to the CRO newsletter. For incident-specific resources, visit the COVID-19 and Wildfire recovery pages.

Here are some tips when applying for funds:

• Collaborate. Work with regional partners in your planning and resource sharing activities, and consider cooperative purchasing agreements to support implementation. This can be especially important in times of economic downturn.
• Get creative. When a resilience action requires the construction of a physical asset typically included in a capital investment plan, the asset can be included in the annual or biennial planning process, which is better equipped for financing larger projects.
• Consider the costs of inaction. To support implementation, demonstrate the financial benefits from loss avoidance and improved public safety. It is almost always less costly to proactively address climate impacts or hazards. View the Future Avoided Cost Explorer to see the economic impacts of hazards in Colorado.
• When budgeting for resilience programs or projects, it is important to consider the following questions:
  • Which strategies can be “mainstreamed” and incorporated into (and funded or financed by) existing projects or programs?
  • Is there a payback period for the action (e.g., an action with co-benefits may have a payback period associated with it and additional upfront costs could be justified by longer-term savings)?
  • What are the project’s life cycle costs and are there potential savings over the lifetime of the improvement?
  • What are the costs of inaction? Are there legal or insurance costs associated with not taking action that could be used to support taking action? Your team will likely have to seek the input of others to find specific answers to the questions above. Considering the financing mechanisms in as much detail as possible will make your resilience planning efforts much more comprehensive and will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of actually implementing these actions.