Regional councils press for more authority over per-capita funds, express concern over admin allocations

Regional council members pressed state staff for more delegated authority over per-capita funds and greater flexibility in administrative allocations for support organizations.

One regional member said councils need autonomy: "If you don't think you have any authority I'm probably going to run my business," and argued that giving regional councils clearer control over per-capita spending would help recruit and retain business leaders willing to volunteer time. Several attendees echoed concerns that the current approval process requires duplicate approvals—first at the regional level, then again at the state board—which adds staff time and volunteer burden on cross-region projects.

Members also raised administrative funding constraints. Speakers noted the $250,000 per-region administration allocation has remained unchanged since 2017 and that the 8% project admin allocation is restricted to individual projects, limiting a support organization—s ability to apply overhead across multiple projects. "That—s been the same since 02/2017," one participant said; others asked whether the state would consider inflation-adjusting that amount or providing alternate supports to maintain staff capacity in smaller regions.

Meeting facilitators captured these items as priorities for the new advisory council to advance to the state board, including proposals for clearer per-capita delegation, streamlined approval paths for cross-region projects, and reexamination of admin and overhead recognition for support organizations.