County staff to pursue state recruitment grant with Make My Move; commissioners ask for clearer financing breakdown

Riley County officials heard a presentation from Make My Move representatives about a proposed two-year community talent recruitment program funded in part by a Kansas state appropriation and partly by local match.

Why it matters: the county would commit local economic development funds to leverage a state grant intended to recruit household relocations to rural and regional communities; the program pools marketing and incentive dollars to attract new residents who meet household income thresholds.

What was presented: County Counselor Jacob Hansen introduced the item and summarized the status of related court and easement matters before turning to the recruitment contract and grant application. Make My Move representatives (Peter Lazar and a second presenter) said the vendor would provide marketing, applicant screening and administrative services. The vendor’s contract listed a service cost in the neighborhood of $118,855 per year; county staff described a matching strategy that would leave Riley County with a local obligation of approximately $30,000 per year if the state grant is awarded. The presentation and the accompanying staff report made these points: - The program would target movers eligible under state guidance (household income threshold discussed as $55,000 household income). The vendor said its internal mover average statewide is higher than that threshold and that the program typically recruits a variety of applicants, including remote workers and job-seekers. - The proposed incentive structure in the pro forma includes moving stipends for accepted households (example figure discussed: $5,000 per household), marketing costs and the vendor fee; staff said the grant would cover a large portion of the total program cost if awarded.

Commissioner concerns and direction: Commissioners asked for a clear finance flow: what the county would pay from its economic development fund, how state grant tranches would be distributed and whether Manhattan (the city) would be in scope (the vendor contract as written uses county boundaries and therefore includes Manhattan). Commissioners asked staff to clarify the timeline and any hard application deadline. The vendor said payments would be triggered by milestones (for example, partial payments when tranches are released and payments tied to accepted movers) and that communities commonly stagger the relocation stipend (half at move, half in year two).

Outcome and next steps: Commissioners asked county staff (including the budget officer, the county counselor and economic development staff) to work with Make My Move to produce a clear one-page breakdown of county obligations, grant timing and payment milestones and to confirm how Manhattan and other municipalities are included or excluded. Staff agreed to contact the treasurer’s office and the state point of contact to verify application timelines and return with a clarified financing schedule before committing county match dollars. The commission did not vote on a contract at the meeting and explicitly conditioned any obligation on receipt of the state grant.