County to apply for 2026 Community Crossings grant; commissioners note smaller statewide pool and higher competition

St. Joseph County approved submission of the 2026 Community Crossings matching grant application and the county’s financial commitment letter at the Oct. 21 meeting.

Skye (IPG) explained the program’s recent changes, saying the statewide funding pool has been reduced from roughly $300–$350 million in 2024 to a new cap of $100 million, which will make awards more competitive. The Community Crossings program provides state matching funds for local paving projects; the county may request up to $1 million under the new rules with a 50% local match.

For 2026 the county is proposing roughly $2.1 million in total project work; under the 50% match rule that would mean a $1 million ask with at least $1 million in local matching dollars. The presenter said that previous rounds had higher caps ($1.5 million ask allowed in prior cycle) and that the reduced program cap will stretch county paving dollars further. The county intends to select approximately 7–8 miles of roadway (about 10 sections of road) from its pavement assessments and constituent requests for the application.

Commissioners discussed the impact of recent state road-funding legislation and other funding sources such as Amazon-related revenues that will be restricted to IEC-supporting needs but may indirectly free up budget for other paving work.

The board voted to approve submission of the application and the financial commitment.

Ending: Staff will submit the Community Crossings application by the end-of-month deadline and proceed with the required local-match planning if awards are received.