City Of El Paso

The City of El Paso, a U.S. local government entity headquartered in El Paso, Texas, is a prime recipient of federal grants across transportation, housing, public safety, and infrastructure sectors, with no federal contract prime awardee footprint and no position on government-wide contract vehicles. The entity operates as a direct grant recipient (87% of recent awards as prime) across 54 distinct federal customer agencies, receiving a combined $1.58 billion in obligated dollars against $150.8 million in combined potential value—a figure reflecting the city's heavy reliance on formula grants and multi-year operating assistance awards that drive cumulative obligation well beyond annual ceiling amounts.

El Paso's grant portfolio is dominated by transportation and housing recipients activity. The top five customer agencies by award count account for 48% of all awards: the Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration leads with 137 awards funding Sun Metro's fixed-route bus operations, capital asset replacement, preventive maintenance, ADA paratransit service, and fare system modernization; the Department of Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development sponsors 82 awards under HOME Investment Partnerships, Emergency Solutions Grants, Community Development Block Grants, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) programs; the Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Southwestern Region funds 25 awards for El Paso International Airport taxiway, runway, terminal, and apron rehabilitation; the Federal Emergency Management Agency administers 18 awards for fire staffing, equipment, emergency response training, and disaster preparedness; and the Corporation for National and Community Service funds 17 awards for AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent and Retired and Senior Volunteer (RSVP) programs. A secondary concentration in potential value sits with the General Services Administration Public Buildings Service (15 awards, $52.2 million), reflecting El Paso's role as a lessor of nonresidential buildings—91 awards across the footprint fall under NAICS Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings, with 54 PSC awards under Lease/Rental of Office Buildings, indicating the city manages federal tenant occupancy in municipal facilities.

Recent grant work exemplifies the scale and scope. El Paso received a $4.26 million Project Grant from FEMA under the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program (CFDA 97.083) in March 2026 to hire firefighters over three years; a $33.35 million Project Grant from the Federal Transit Administration (CFDA 20.526) in August 2025 for the replacement of 32 aging buses with new 35-foot compressed natural gas buses and four bus canopies; a $25.88 million Formula Grant from the Federal Transit Administration (CFDA 20.507) in January 2026 for preventive maintenance, ADA paratransit service, and procurement of four replacement buses for Sun Metro; a $2.71 million HOME Investment Partnerships Program formula grant (CFDA 14.239) from HUD in September 2025 to finance affordable housing development and rehabilitation; and a $2.25 million Project Grant from the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (CFDA 16.068) in October 2025 for police officer hiring and community policing capacity. El Paso also holds airport infrastructure grants totaling over $80 million in cumulative awards through the FAA Airport Improvement Program (CFDA 20.106) for terminal rehabilitation, taxiway reconstruction, apron pavement, runway lighting, and solar panel installation at El Paso International Airport.

The city operates as a sub-recipient on grants where state pass-through entities (Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Governor's Office of Texas, Texas Division of Emergency Management) hold prime awards. Recent sub-recipient work includes WIC local agency services under HHSC, STD/HIV programs and immunization initiatives under the Department of State Health Services, air quality monitoring under the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, victim services and Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) equipment purchases through the Governor's Office, and Operation Stonegarden border enforcement overtime support. Subrecipient volume has grown, with 76 sub-awards (13% of total) documented in recent years.

Activity has remained steady over the past five years—27 awards in 2022 to 39 in 2024, with 34 awards in 2025 and only 3 recorded for 2026 year-to-date as of the source snapshot. Twenty-eight awards (combined potential value $90 thousand) face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing limited recompete exposure given the formula-grant structure of much of El Paso's portfolio. The city's one named parent vehicle, Basic Ordering Agreement GS07B14711, carries 90 task orders valued at $127 million combined potential value, indicating a significant but narrowly concentrated real estate lease obligation to the General Services Administration.