Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Grant Funds topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Opportunity Fund: Washington County reports strong grant leverage, $25.5 million allocated across cycles
Summary
County staff summarized the MSTIP Opportunity Fund, which has provided local match for competitive grants; staff reported 54% success for grant applications supported and about a 5:1 leverage ratio for local dollars invested.
Washington County staff told the Washington County Coordinating Committee that the MSTIP Opportunity Fund has been successful at leveraging local match to obtain external grants for transportation projects and programs.
Dionne Valentine, principal transportation planner, summarized the fund’s history and rules. The Opportunity Fund began in 2012 with a $5,000,000 allocation to provide flexible, local matching funds to improve grant competitiveness. The committee added $7,500,000 in a later cycle and $13,000,000 in the 3f cycle, bringing total allocations to $25,500,000 across MSTIP cycles, Valentine said.
Valentine described guiding principles developed for the fund: ensure available funding across a program cycle, prioritize signature projects with wider county benefit, provide only the minimum local match expected by grant programs, and consider geographic distribution. “For every dollar of MSTIP funds, we're seeing at least a $5 return on investment,” Valentine said, summarizing the program’s leverage metric.
Who can apply: cities and the county are eligible grantees under intergovernmental agreements; the county facilitates partnerships that allow other organizations (for example, park districts or transportation alliances) to participate via a city or county applicant. Staff noted there is no rolling, open call for funds; requests typically come when grant programs announce solicitations.
Process and stewardship: applicants submit project overviews, funding breakdowns and grant terms. Staff, the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Coordinating Committee review requests and the chair issues a letter of support for successful applicants. On award, the county executes intergovernmental agreements and transfers funds to the recipient to fulfill match commitments.
Staff reported a 54% success rate for grants supported by Opportunity Fund match and said the county tracks outcomes on a project page. Committee members asked about commitments for projects that are not ultimately awarded grants; staff said funds are considered “committed but not obligated” during the application cycle and will be returned to the pool if an application is unsuccessful.
Quotes
"So back in 2012 ... the board came forward ... and identified this as a real opportunity to seek and successfully pursue and leverage other grant funding opportunities," Dionne Valentine said.
"We had a pretty good batting average here, better than 50% in terms of the number of grants that were sought and the number of grants that were awarded," Valentine added.
Ending
Staff said they will provide a breakdown of Opportunity Fund allocations by commissioner district in follow-up materials and continue tracking project outcomes. The committee asked staff to share earlier notice when jurisdictions plan to apply so the committee can consider requests and reduce the risk of long-held, inactive commitments.
