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Nueces County grants office proposes staff reclassifications, deletion of assistant to save roughly $15,000
Summary
Grants administration recommended deleting a vacant grants assistant post, reclassifying two roles and pursuing an indirect cost rate to generate special revenue; commissioners raised succession concerns and asked for software cost estimates and a follow-up report.
Maria, director of the county’s Grants Administration office, told the commissioners Tuesday that her proposed budget would save the county about $15,060 by deleting the grants assistant position and reclassifying the grants writer/administrator to director and the grants coordinator to deputy director.
Maria said the change is intended to make the office more proactive and sustainable: "This budget was prepared with the department in mind," she said. She told the court the office currently manages 38 open contracts totaling more than $6,300,000 and has 22 grant applications pending for roughly $15,800,000, and that staff are increasingly pursuing federal funding and collaborating with the district attorney and local courts on victim services and treatment-court projects.
The proposal includes pursuing a negotiated indirect cost rate and a cost-allocation plan so the county can count indirect costs as cash match and generate special revenue for grants administration. Maria cited a 2010 indirect cost rate of 25.58 percent and said using a vendor such as JBI (which previously quoted $12,500) or ECIVIS to establish a negotiated rate could allow the county to recoup missed indirect costs for two prior years and fund a grants-management system.
Commissioners generally praised the initiative but pressed Maria on succession risks if the department were reduced to two people. One commissioner said trimming payroll is desirable but warned that cutting a training pipeline could force the county to hire costly outside contractors later. Maria said she had discussed the changes with staff and included a multi-page justification in the packet.
County leaders asked Maria to return with specifics on the software quotes, the cost-allocation scope, and an implementation plan. The court also discussed using indirect-cost recoveries to reimburse departments that contributed to the allocation.
