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After debate, Gilliam County court keeps salaries eligible in operational grants and approves new grant-cycle rules
Summary
Following public comment and committee discussion, the court amended its competitive-grants guidelines: it retained employee salaries and benefits as eligible operational-support costs, set other procedural changes (two grant cycles, in-kind match rules, 25% capital match), and approved the revised guidance for FY26 competitive grants.
The Gilliam County Court approved a set of amended competitive-grant guidelines for FY26 after weeks of internal review and extensive public comment. The court’s action preserved employee salaries and benefits as allowable uses in operational-support grants, adopted a two-cycle schedule for competitive grants, and enacted several application and reporting changes.
Key changes approved by the court include:
- Maintain employee salaries and benefits as eligible uses in operational-support grants (the court declined a committee recommendation to remove payroll). - Capital investment grants: broaden the eligible capital project types (no longer limited to only housing, early education or industrial lands), require a 25% match across capital projects, and allow project expenditure periods to be set according to project complexity (with a general expectation of funds claimed/expenditure within two fiscal years unless extended). - Two grant review cycles for capital projects (fall and spring) to give applicants predictable windows; applicants may still present to the county court outside cycles for large projects. - Make in-kind contributions eligible as match (using Oregon non-urban minimum wage as the volunteer hourly rate unless a specialized skill rate applies). - Require proof of nonprofit incorporation and streamline proof-of-funding-seeking language (applicants must show they sought at least two additional funding sources; exact form of proof to be listed in application instructions).
The changes followed public testimony from nonprofit providers and health and child-care stakeholders who argued that removing payroll eligibility would endanger essential services in small communities. Summit Springs Village, Community Counseling Solutions and the South Gilliam Health Center presented budget details showing payroll as a major share of operating costs.
Commissioner Wilkins moved the consolidated motion to approve the capital, operational and special-project guidelines as amended; Commissioner Watkins seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
County staff said the FY26 competitive-grant budget proposal will allocate $3.0 million for competitive grants (proposed split: $2.0 million capital, $1.0 million operational), subject to final budget approval. The county will post the revised guidelines and open application windows with roughly 30 days for submission; staff said they will notify prior applicants and publish notices in the local paper.
