Finance committee opens study of grant funding; targets Sept. 17 report and asks clerk to coordinate requests

The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates standing committee on finance on June 30 launched a study, under Resolution 25‑09, to identify grants that affect the FY26 budget and to assess where the county may be vulnerable if grant awards change.

Delegate Preisel, an author of the resolution, said the committee needs current information on grants that are active in FY26, grants applied for but not yet awarded, and grants recently denied. "We need to take the information that the commission and the administration gave us on grants and update it," he said, and set a reporting target: "The resolution states that we report to the assembly no later than September 17."

Assistant Administrator Harik and finance staff described an existing preapproval process for grant applications that is intended to flag grants that will require administrative support. Harik said some departments have not always used the preapproval step. Finance staff proposed providing the committee with the preapproval template and working with departments to create a tracking sheet so newly applied‑for grants are captured and communicated to finance.

Committee members discussed timeline and workload. Several delegates asked that the clerk bundle committee questions and route a single consolidated request to administration and the Cape Cod Commission so staff are not asked for duplicate information. Delegates also discussed dividing review work among members after the clerk collects the initial responses.

Next steps: the committee chair agreed to work with the clerk to solicit members’ written questions, send a consolidated request to administration and the Cape Cod Commission, and begin receiving updated grant inventories in July with refinement over August to meet the Sept. 17 reporting target.