About $8.9 million in federal funds for Montezuma County was canceled this year, according to the Colorado Governor’s Office of Federal Funds and Strategic Initiatives.
The loss includes money once available or already allocated to the county, including funds planned for future years. Most dollars were distributed through grants and social benefits.
Federal cuts have been a major feature of President Donald Trump’s agenda, from mass layoffs to foreign aid cancellations and reduced DEI grants. Colorado’s budget shortfall, Gov. Jared Polis says, stems from H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The state database, released Dec. 2, shows the varied, sometimes indirect, routes through which federal dollars flow through Montezuma County.
The largest cut, $5.3 million, was for insurance subsidies tied to the 43-day government shutdown that ended Nov. 12. Those enhanced premium tax credits expire in 2026.
| Behavioral Health Administration | $67,633.28 |
|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | $947,002.50 |
| Department of Human Services | $1,371,899.40 |
| Department of Labor and Employment | $119,851.48 |
| Department of Public Safety | $71,671.79 |
| Department of Transportation | $12,241.30 |
| Energy Office | $1,055,540.00 |
| Division of Insurance | $5,314,240.00 |
| Data released Dec. 2 from the Colorado Governor's Office of Federal Funds and Strategic Initiatives | |
The data is not exhaustive; some cuts described by officials and others in the county don’t appear in the spreadsheets, suggesting an undercount. For example, Department of Justice funds lost to Renew, a local domestic violence shelter, are missing.
Much of the money once at risk has been restored, totaling about 2½ times the amount canceled.
An additional $24.6 million in federal funds for Montezuma County was “successfully defended,” the state says, mostly through court orders or administrative adjustments. More than $20 million was secured for broadband development under the state Office of Information Technology.
Even so, the state says much of the money may be only temporarily secured.
| Behavioral Health Administration | $90,752 |
| Department of Education | $1,087,279.5 |
| Department of Information Technology | $20,837,700 |
| Office of Lieutenant Governor | $107,663.27 |
| Department of Natural Resources | $680,776 |
| Department of Public Health and Environment | $1,543,266.8 |
| Department of Public Safety | $98,335.6 |
| Department of Transportation | $161,738 |
| Data released Dec. 2 from the Colorado Governor's Office of Federal Funds and Strategic Initiatives | |
About $1.8 million countywide remains at risk,” the state says.
Notable cuts include $1.5 million from an EPA Solar for All program, a five-year digital equity grant totaling $108,000 and more than $87,000 from a SNAP educational grant aimed at reducing obesity.
The database covers hundreds of millions in federal dollars statewide. Rural Western Slope communities like Montezuma County receive only a small share.
| Saved from cuts | At risk | Canceled (administrative) | Canceled (Congressional) |
| $868.08 million | $429.06 million | $206.88 million | $698.78 million |
Local officials say federal dollars are disappearing.
Scott Baker, Cortez’s grants administrator, said securing funds is increasingly difficult. The city especially needs help to repair its aging rural infrastructure, he said.
“Before the 2025 federal administration, when the city had a critical need whose cost exceeded our budget or reserves we'd have one or more federal offices from whom we could seek support,” Baker said.
“Today, several agencies are virtually closed for grant business or have drastically reduced their inventory of grant openings – EPA, HUD, USDA, et al.”
Communication with federal staff who once helped officials craft proposals has dwindled, he said.
“In short, there's not only fewer buckets of public funding now, what's left in those buckets is vastly depleted, and only the biggest dogs can compete for lingering crumbs.”
At the county level, some emergency funds are frozen.
Speaking to the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners Nov. 24, Emergency Manager Jim Spratlen said his office’s usual funding is on hold. The Federal Emergency Management Agency froze funds for the state in mid-October, demanding Colorado share immigration data and enforce deportations.
When FEMA’s Emergency Management Performance Grant halted, over $48,000 remained unpaid to the county. FEMA approved over $319 million to distribute across states, but Colorado is still negotiating to meet requirements for its share, Spratlen said. In the meantime, the state can pay some of the grant until June.
“Then we're going to see throughout the year what happens with that federal funding and what we can come up with from that point on,” Spratlen said.
Colorado’s database lists the grant as “Canceled – Grant terms change (pending).”
Losses have also hit conservation and agriculture.
Danny Margioles, executive director of Mancos Conservation District, told Montezuma County Commissioners Aug. 25 that grant money for soil health is gone.
Margioles said the district previously got some of that money from a Climate Smart Commodities grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The state’s database says a total of over $946,000 had been distributed in the county. But now it’s gone.
In March, MCD President Mike Nolan told the Sierra Club’s magazine that a $630,000 farmer equity grant was cut from the district. The program was not in line with the administration’s anti-DEI stance. Colorado’s database does not account for the cut.
There are plenty of taxpaying county residents who appreciate cautious spending, such as Frank Harrison, a Lewis-Arriola resident and natural gas engineer who describes himself as a fiscal conservative.
“You'd need to look at each program and see what type of value is returned from the investment that you make in it,” he said. “There's a lot of programs that sound really helpful. And a lot of folks take that at face value. But if you start digging into it, there's some waste involved.”
Considering the cuts underway, Harrison said it’s best to weigh how effective each specific program is to decide whether it should continue.
“There's some things that you gotta ask the question: is this really needed? is this a program that’s really needed to keep things going? Is it going to improve the health of the county? Is it going to stop some sort of environmental disaster? Is it really going to add value?”
A nonprofit that protects victims of domestic violence is bracing for a hefty federal cut to its operating costs next year.
Cortez-based Renew, one of few domestic violence resources in the Four Corners region, depended on a U.S. Department of Justice grant to cover staff wages. The money also pays for utilities in its shelter, which can house up to 20 people, sometimes for months at a time. Renew helps victims with housing, food aid and a more secure life.
Those running the nonprofit applied for $236,000 for operating costs. In August, they learned the center would receive only a fraction of that: $25,000.
“It’s nerve-wracking for the community, for victims,” said Sage Lawson, Renew’s executive director.
The grant Renew has relied on for the past four to five years would have supplied about three-quarters of its funding, Lawson said. The fund, under the Victims of Crime Act, has been declining in recent years, according to the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice. This year, Renew’s team deliberately applied for more money, anticipating reductions.
“Since I got on the board in 2023, the director at the time was already making [us] aware of underfunding,” said Melissa Matthews, Renew’s board treasurer. Matthews said more applicants were in the pool this year, thinning out what’s available.
Smaller batches of funds for Renew also come from Local Victim Assistance and Law Enforcement funds provided by the state and from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, given by the county, Matthews and Lawson said.
Now, Renew is turning to local donations to cover costs, Lawson said.
“We just wish the community would come together and help,” she said. “Because that’s really our only saving grace at this point.”
