Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Larimer County, Colorado is home to roughly 300,000 residents. While most residents live in the metropolitan area comprised of Fort Collins and Loveland, the county is home to over 240 local governments. In 2011 and 2013, major floods and wildfires struck Larimer County— federal and state funds were thus allocated to help not only in recovery but towards improving disaster resilience planning throughout the county. At the same time, the Larimer County Connects program was developed to provide cross-jurisdiction networking and planning resources. We evaluate how the network connections created by the program as well as the management capacity of local governments impacted the ability of local jurisdictions to secure grant funding from the state for not only recovery but resiliency— the ability to respond and adapt quickly to changing natural conditions and threats. We evaluate personnel expenditures within the cities from 2011-2018 as well as participation in Larimer connects programing, and assess how these conditions are associated with changes in the likelihood of local governments creating new disaster preparedness plans or developing infrastructure or programs to improve disaster response.