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Earmarks are officially back for the federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations process, and details are beginning to trickle in from top appropriators. Most importantly, special districts must act quickly to be considered, with most Congressional offices’ deadlines hitting in early-to-mid April.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., announced earlier this month in a “Dear Colleague” letter the FY23 Community Project Funding process, which is similar to the FY22 program. The Committee and its subcommittees will be reviewing Congressional requests through the end of April. Each subcommittee will release details on which federal funding accounts will be open for earmarks in the coming days.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet announced details of the FY23 Congressionally Directed Funding program, but details are expected soon.

Some members of Congress have begun announcing their own application deadlines to ensure adequate time for review prior to submission to the Committee. The National Special Districts Coalition (NSDC), of which CSDA is a founding member, is tracking deadlines for each Congressional office and is providing links for our membership to each application via this online spreadsheet. 

A newly released NSDC briefing outlines the accounts opened for FY22 earmarks and includes examples from each. The report also includes listings of all successful earmarks included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2022.

Special districts weighing whether to request a federal earmark for eligible projects should have the following details ready for each submitted project: 

1. All project details including title and purpose.
2. Total amount of funding requested.

• Districts should consider match dollars as a potential requirement depending on the nature of the project and what federal account the earmark may fall under. Match funds may not be required immediately, but rather a plan in place to acquire matching funds. Congressional offices will discuss this issue on a case-by-case basis with applicants.

1. Written justification of how/why the project is an appropriate use the project’s use of taxpayer funds.
2. Demonstration that funding can be utilized during the federal Fiscal Year 2023 (October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023).
3. Proof of local support for the project. Examples of these include, but are not limited to:

• Letters of support from elected community leaders (e.g. mayors or other officials).
• Press articles highlighting the need for the requested Community Project Funding
• Support from newspaper editorial boards.
• Projects listed on State intended use plans, community development plans, or other publicly available planning documents.
• Resolutions passed by city councils or other local, regional, or State boards, commissions, and organizations.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives will be allowed to submit up to 15 Community Project funding requests to the Appropriations Committee, an increase from 10 last year.

Special districts with eligible projects are encouraged to contact their members of Congress for office-specific information on applications and deadlines. Click here to look up your member of the U.S. House. A list of U.S. Senators is located at this link.

NSDC will continue to follow the development and organization of the FY23 Congressionally directed spending process and will update members as additional information is released. Contact Cole Karr, CSDA Federal Advocacy Coordinator, at colek@csda.net for questions.

Similar to the U.S. Congress, a number of State Legislators are soliciting State Budget funding requests for local projects. During recent roundtable meetings with CSDA members, organized by CSDA Public Affairs Field Coordinators, multiple State Legislators have invited special districts to share local project funding requests for consideration. Most State Budget allocations in last year’s budget ranged from hundreds of thousands of dollars to the low millions of dollars per project.

While there is no standardized protocol in place for requesting State Budget allocations, the manner of information special districts must gather and timeline for making the request is similar to that outlined above for the federal earmark process. If your district has a compelling project that would benefit from State funding, it is worth reaching out to the State Legislators representing the communities your project would benefit. You can find State lawmakers that represent a particular address here or identify which State Legislators overlap with your special district’s service territory by looking at CSDA’s special districts map with legislative district overlays.

If you have questions or need help connecting with your legislator, CSDA members can always feel free to reach out to their Public Affairs Field Coordinator for help.