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Bannock County considers renewing general grant‑writing contract with Southeast Idaho COG
Summary
County officials heard a presentation from the Southeast Idaho Council of Governments about results and challenges under the current general grant‑writing contract and agreed to schedule a broader elected‑officials meeting on Sept. 1 to discuss renewal and coordination with department heads.
The Bannock County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 22 heard a report from Charity Staggs of the Southeast Idaho Council of Governments on the county's general grant‑writing contract, which expires at the end of the fiscal year.
Staggs told commissioners the contract helped the council write two Idaho Department of Lands grant applications worth $480,000 combined and that the council charged the county $10,000 to prepare those submittals. "With this contract, we were able to write two Idaho Department of Lands grants as $480,000 total. We charge $10,000 total," Staggs said, and added the grants (if awarded) have a two‑year turnaround and would not be decided until 2027.
The presentation included an analysis of return on investment. Staggs said returns on previous Emergency Management grant work with Bannock County averaged about $1 to $10, while the council's broader grant work typically averaged closer to $1 to $7. She also said converting the county's emergency‑management hourly contract to a fee‑per‑submittal model likely would reduce county costs by roughly 20% in scenarios she examined.
Staggs described practical challenges the council and county staff have encountered: uneven engagement from departments on project planning, a tendency among some departments to "find me the grant and I'll make a project for the grant," and uncertainty caused by federal administrative changes that may change available funding streams. "A lot of these grants take a year or more to plan a project'and getting some engagement to start that process has been pretty difficult," she said.
Lane Burgess, executive director of the Southeast Idaho Council of Governments, offered to help facilitate outreach and an educational session for department heads at no additional charge under the contract. "If there's a way that CCOG can help facilitate that discussion amongst the department heads, we're happy to do that," Burgess said.
Commissioners discussed budgeting, the tiered fee structure and whether to continue the contract. One commissioner said internal and external grant writers face similar obstacles if departments do not present projects in advance; another recommended a leadership meeting to better align departments with grant opportunities.
The board directed staff to arrange an elected‑officials meeting on Sept. 1 so commissioners, the county's internal grant writer and the Southeast Idaho Council of Governments can discuss coordination and the potential contract renewal. There was no formal vote on the contract during the Aug. 22 meeting.
Why it matters: the contract provides outside capacity for identifying and preparing grant applications that can expand county capital and service budgets; the county must decide whether to renew, alter the fee structure, or rely primarily on internal staff before the contract expires at fiscal year end.
