Pottawattamie County approves $11,610 SWIPCO membership, $6,000 for regional transit

The Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved two routine budget items: $11,610 for membership in the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) and $6,000 for the Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) for fiscal year 2026–27.

John McCurdy, executive director of SWIPCO, told the board the regional council coordinates planning, economic development and community services for rural communities and calculates the county’s membership at $0.65 per capita. McCurdy said SWIPCO helps towns with ordinance updates, building-code enforcement, grant writing and administration; he cited recent regional totals—hundreds of thousands of transit rides, tens of millions in flood- and infrastructure-related grants—and offered to provide more quantifiable, county-level return-on-investment figures on request.

A separate presenter on behalf of SWITA reported county-specific FY25 transit numbers, including 20 vehicles based in Pottawattamie County and an operating budget of about $1.1 million for county services. The transit agency said it had been awarded a $50,000 grant for a medical-transportation pilot and an $8.75 million FTA grant toward a new facility in Council Bluffs, a project estimated at roughly $11 million in total that will require a local match.

Unidentified board members moved and seconded the motions; the board approved the SWIPCO dues by voice vote and separately approved the $6,000 transit contribution. Officials noted the SWITA funding will be accompanied by a joint participation agreement required by the Department of Transportation, with the contract signature expected in spring.

The board recorded that SWIPCO provides both fee-based inspection and contractual services to some towns and that McCurdy would follow up with more detailed figures on how the county’s contribution translated into local projects and services.