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Crook County commissioners approve comment letter on proposed 2 CFR part 200 rule changes
Summary
Crook County commissioners approved a staff-drafted comment letter urging clearer standards and practical safeguards in proposed revisions to OMB rules under 2 CFR part 200, while endorsing multi-year awards and noting risks around termination authority and cost allowability.
The Crook County Board of Commissioners on July 10 approved a staff-prepared comment letter responding to proposed revisions to OMB standards in 2 CFR part 200, voting to transmit the letter after one minor typographical edit.
The approval came after presenter Will Van Vactor summarized the county's position: Crook County "supports accountability and responsible stewardship of federal funds, but ask[s] for clear standards and more practical safeguards for local governments administering grants in good faith," while also endorsing the proposed multi-year award approach as positive.
Why it matters: The proposed federal rule changes could affect how counties manage grant-funded staffing and capital projects. In the letter, staff flagged several areas of concern that could increase financial or operational risk for rural jurisdictions, including expanded authority to terminate grants or stop work midstream, unclear cost-allowability standards that could invite retroactive disallowances, and ambiguous "viewpoint neutrality" language that may affect county-owned public facilities such as fairgrounds and meeting rooms.
During the presentation, Van Vactor said the draft letter "highlights concerns about expanded authority to terminate grants or stop work midstream," and described how such discretion could be harmful to rural counties that rely on grant-funded staff and projects. He also raised "concern about undefined cost, allowability standards that could create uncertainty, and retroactive, disallowance risk."
Commissioners praised the balance of the draft. The chair said the letter was "well done" and thanked staff members Christina, Eric and Will for their work. A commissioner moved to approve the comments with a correction on page two (change the enumerated reference from "3" to "5"); the motion was seconded and carried.
The board briefly addressed an unrelated technical disruption when an offensive display appeared on the Zoom feed. The county host removed the participant and ended the Zoom session; county legal counsel advised the board that restarting the Zoom was not required and that the audio recording would suffice for preparing written minutes.
Next steps: The approved comment letter will be transmitted as the county's response to the Office of Management and Budget's proposed revisions to 2 CFR part 200. No further votes on the item were recorded. The board then moved to adjourn.
