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Cumberland County adopts 12.5% indirect cost rate for grants to cover administrative expenses
Summary
The county commission voted unanimously to adopt a 12.5% indirect cost rate to apply to federal and state grants to help cover administrative costs, an action county officials said will help staff manage an increasing volume of grants.
Cumberland County commissioners unanimously approved a policy to apply a 12.5% indirect cost rate to grants the county receives, county manager Jim Gailey said Tuesday. The measure applies the rate to grant budgets to cover county-level administrative costs tied to grant oversight and administration.
Gailey told the commission that the county historically absorbed such administrative overhead in the general fund when grant volumes were small, but a recent increase in large grants ' particularly in public health ' has stretched staff resources across departments. "We feel as though that is an appropriate percentage that would cover the needs of the county through administering these grants," Gailey said during the discussion.
Gailey said the federal government typically allows indirect rates in the 10% to 15% range without a special federal application; the county chose the midpoint of that range to avoid making a special application to set a higher rate. He said the rate is intended to be applied going forward on federal and state grants and would be reflected in the county's policy book; commissioners may revisit the percentage in future votes.
Commissioners asked how the rate is used. Gailey said indirect costs would be included in grant budgets and could be used for administration, rent, utilities and similar county-level expenses tied to grant management. Commissioners voted to adopt the 12.5% rate by unanimous voice vote.
Why it matters: applying an indirect cost rate allows the county to recover a portion of the administrative burden incurred when managing grants. County staff said the change reflects a sustained increase in grant activity and workload across departments.
