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Lawmakers hear pitch to restore funding for rural administrative-advisor program
Summary
Lawmakers heard a request to restore $500,000 in ongoing funding for Utah’s Local Administrative Advisor program, which presenters said served 123 cities and towns in its first two years and helped preserve $9 million in ARPA funds for small communities.
Representative Anthony Loubet convened the General Government Appropriations Subcommittee and heard a funding request to restore ongoing support for the Local Administrative Advisor (LAA) program, which provides planning and administration help to small cities and towns. Sen. Owens introduced the item and said the program has been important across his largely rural district.
“The local administrative advisor program is actually the first of its kind in the country,” said Cameron Dale, executive director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, who told the committee the League coordinates training and an expert pool to supplement association-of-government advisers. Dale said the LAA network and expert pool have helped communities with budgeting, administration and planning work.
Travis Keel, an AOG executive director who works in central Utah, told the committee the program reached 123 cities and towns in its first two years and that many small municipalities lack full-time staff. “In Senator Owens district, that number is closer to 95%,” Keel said, describing communities that rely on the LAA and AOG network.
Presenters said the program also protected federal ARPA funds from being returned to the federal government: in partnership with AOGs, the LAA effort helped preserve about $9,000,000 in ARPA funding for infrastructure projects. Dale said the program’s budget was $1,580,000 ongoing in its first year, cut to $1,080,000 last year, and the group requested restoring the $500,000 cut to return the program to its prior funding level.
Committee members asked how many eligible jurisdictions participated; Dale testified roughly 145 cities and towns qualify under the program’s population cap, and 123 participated in projects during the first two years. Members also discussed related cuts proposed elsewhere in the committee package, and witnesses cautioned further cuts would be “devastating” to program capacity.
The request did not produce a committee vote; staff and lawmakers flagged the item for inclusion among the subcommittee’s funding priorities ahead of final votes.
The committee moved on to other appropriations; the next full vote meeting is scheduled for Feb. 10.
