STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — With President Joe Biden’s signature on the American Rescue Plan, COVID-19 relief money will soon start flowing into Summit County in several different ways — including residents’ wallets.

The $1.9 trillion package includes direct payments to people, an extension of federal unemployment benefits, an increased child tax credit for this year, aid to state and local governments and targeted aid for restaurants, among other initiatives.

For John Bristol, economic development director for the Steamboat Springs Chamber, the $1,400 payments to people with incomes below $75,000 a year are the most significant piece of the package.

“The goal behind that is to create consumer confidence and help encourage some of that pent-up demand for folks to make some purchases,” Bristol said. “To me, when I look at it, that is the biggest component.”

About 4.7 million Coloradans, or 82% of the state’s population, are expected to get a stimulus check.

In Summit County, more than 11,700 people should be getting a $1,400 check from the federal government, according to 2019 estimates from the American Community Survey. In all, that means residents in the county will have more than $16.4 million to spend from the direct stimulus portion of the package.

That number is larger still because people with incomes between $75,000 and $80,000 will also get a direct payment, but it will be less than $1,400. Those with incomes above that threshold will not receive a stimulus payment.

This additional money could support the hospitality and tourism industry, Bristol said, because people have more money to spend.

The relief bill also increases the child tax credit for one year, something that U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, has been pushing for since long before the pandemic. The credit will rise from $2,000 to $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 17 and to $3,600 for children younger than 6.

Bennet and other supporters of expanding the credit have said it will cut child poverty in half. According to Sen. John Hickenlooper’s office, about 57,000 children in Colorado will be lifted out of poverty because of the expansion.

The earned income tax credit has been nearly tripled this year because of the package, which will result in about 300,000 Coloradans without children seeing more money in their paychecks, as well.

The bill also includes money for education and child care, with Colorado K-12 schools getting $1.2 billion, higher education getting $495 million and child care receiving $466 million. Of that, Summit School District will receive $1,570,000, according to the office of Rep. Joe Neguse, who represents Summit County.

About $350 billion in the package is meant to support state and local governments, with about $6 billion of that going to cities, towns and counties within Colorado. According to Hickenlooper’s office, Summit County will see about $5.5 million of that money.

By town, Breckenridge is expected to get about $980,000, Silverthorne $970,000, Frisco $630,000 and Dillon $190,000, according to Hickenlooper’s office.

This story is from SteamboatPilot.com. The Summit Daily News contributed to this report.