The Denver City Council will soon vote on spending nearly one-third of its $308 million in federal COVID-19 recovery funds on various projects after the council finance committee OK’d the spending plan Tuesday.

The committee unanimously approved the plan to allocate over $100 million of the funds in 2022, with $73.6 million going to recovery efforts, $25.3 million going to restoring city services and $1.3 million going to contract support to assure fund compliance.

The full council will hold two final votes on the spending plan in the coming weeks before it can be implemented.

Denver was granted the $308 million to fund COVID-19 recovery efforts in March with the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act. The city received 50% of the federal funds in 2021 and will receive the other half in 2022.

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Of the $100 million proposed spending plan, $1.3 million would come from reallocating 2021 funds, and the remainder would come from unallocated 2022 funds, according to the city.

“The eligible uses include supporting public health expenditures, addressing negative public health impacts caused by the public health emergency, replacing lost public sector revenue, providing premium pay for essential workers and investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure,” said Deputy Chief Financial Officer Margaret Danuser.

The $25.3 million to restore and supplement city services cut during the pandemic would be split among more than 15 agencies, said City Budget and Management Director Stephanie Adams.

Approximately 70% of the restoration funds would go to the Denver Fire Department ($7.2 million), Denver Police Department ($3.2 million), Department of Transportation and Infrastructure ($3 million), General Services ($2.1 million) and Parks and Recreation ($2 million).

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The $73.6 million for additional recovery efforts in 2022 would be split among three categories: housing and homelessness, community recovery and business recovery.

Housing and homelessness would receive the bulk of the funds, with $50.3 million. Of that, $28 million would go to the affordable housing fund, $7.47 million would fund operations at the 48th Avenue homeless shelter and $4 million would expand Safe Outdoor Spaces or managed homeless camps.

Other major allocations include $3.5 million to assess capital needs of Denver’s largest homeless shelters, $3.5 million for safety improvements at city recreation centers and $3.5 million for rehousing and housing stability programs.

Community recovery would get $13.2 million, with the largest allocations including $2 million for neighborhood grants, $1.8 million for after school and summer programs, $1.5 million for community safety grants and $1.4 million for childcare and neighborhood centers.

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Another $1 million each would be spent on a citywide mental health needs assessment, food insecurity grants, digital equity programs, building code violation remedies and supporting arts and venues.

Lastly, business recovery would get $10.1 million, for $5 million in business grants, $2.5 million in downtown support, $2 million for an entrepreneurship center and $600,000 for small business outreach and technical assistance.

“The recovery dollars are aligned with your priorities,” Danuser told the council Tuesday. “The council also sent a letter to the mayor Friday with some comments on the 2022 budget and we are working to address some points that were raised there.”

The City Council is also expected to vote on an additional $8.8 million allocation of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act in the coming weeks, to provide premium pay for city employees who worked at the beginning of the pandemic.