Ravalli County Weed District Director Kelly told the Board of Commissioners on June 26 she seeks to hire a grant‑funded grant administrator/office support position to handle grant administration and related office duties, and emphasized that the proposed hire would be funded from grant administration set‑asides and other non‑general fund sources rather than by county property-tax revenue.

Kelly said the district now manages more than 20 active grants and partnerships and that some recent grants — including a multi‑year WIP (Work In Progress) grant — include explicit administration allowances. "When we first wrote this grant... legislation went through and changed that through WIP and allowed... administration fees," Kelly said, noting the WIP grant carries an administrative component sufficient to support about 15 percent of one staff position for multiple years. She added that some MDT and donor funds and local donations also provide administrative funding opportunities.

Commissioners and finance staff noted two constraints: (1) hiring a county employee with benefits means the position’s cost must be included in the county budget if the grant funding ends; and (2) the county’s current revenue outlook has become less certain given newly reported reductions (PILT and other revenues), so the board is not prepared to add ongoing, general‑funded FTEs at this preliminary stage. "I'm not comfortable funding a position today," one commissioner said, citing uncertainty about county revenues.

County finance staff and the director discussed the estimated full cost for a county‑employee hire (including benefits) at roughly $58,349 annually per HR estimates; Kelly responded that she intended to use grant administration set‑asides and other non‑general‑fund sources and not increase the county’s general‑fund burden. Finance and HR confirmed grant administration dollars in hand for at least two years in the current WIP/project budgets.

Commissioners asked staff to document funding sources and to return with formal job descriptions and an implementation plan aligned to the preliminary‑to‑final budget schedule. They emphasized that any hire would be contingent on grant funding and that if a grant‑funded employee became permanent, the full cost would need to be evaluated during final budget adoption. Kelly said she needs help now to keep up with paperwork and grant administration and said she will pursue available grant administrative funds and bring formal documentation to the board for review.

No formal hiring decision or budget amendment was adopted at the June 26 meeting; commissioners agreed to continue detailed staffing and budget decisions to the August final budget review and to expect grant‑funding documentation and a job description before any authorization.