The Denver area will receive almost twice as much in anti-terror grant funding this year than last, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday.
The metro area will receive $7.8 million in funding from the federal Urban Areas Security Initiative program. That’s up from $4.4 million from the same program a year ago.
Chertoff said in a conference call Wednesday with The Denver Post that the rise in funding was not connected to Denver’s hosting the 2008 Democratic National Convention, which he called a “transitory” event. The grants are intended, he said, to help areas build long-term capabilities and protections.
“I think the big driver in the difference was the quality in the projects that money was being sought for,” Chertoff said.
The urban areas grant, distributed to metropolitan areas across the country with a special emphasis on the six largest cities, was one of a handful of grants announced Wednesday. In total, Colorado received about $20 million, Chertoff said. That’s about a 6 percent reduction from the previous year.
“We believe we’ve found the right mix in something that puts most of the money in the top places and allows other places money to build capability,” Chertoff said.
Denver was among several cities seeing gains in grant money this year, including San Diego, Phoenix and Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Others suffered cuts, such as Miami, Milwaukee and Sacramento, Calif.
Chertoff said he couldn’t recall any Colorado programs that stood out.
David Holm, interim director of Colorado’s Division of Emergency Management, said that in the past, money from the grants has gone to fund citizens corps programs, first-responder training and efforts to increase interoperability in emergency agency communication systems. Several committees will make recommendations to the governor on what to fund this year, he said.
Holm said he is happy with the funding this year.
“Up until a couple years ago, we didn’t have any Homeland Security money,” he said. “So this is always a positive for the taxpayers in Colorado.”
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., said in a statement that the grant money “is critical to our local first responders and homeland security agencies to prepare for and provide the highest level of security to our region.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
