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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMNUSSIONERS <br />STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: August 24, 2020 <br />TOPIC: Council of Governments Policy Development <br />Utilizing Public Facility Grants <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Support Staff Action <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Support staff working with a subcommittee of the Council of Government (COG) <br />developing a policy allowing re -appropriation of Public Facility grant awards upon the <br />lack of funding obligation on the part of the recipient. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• Several Fund 108 grant recipients from several years ago have not obligated grant <br />funds to construction. <br />• The same grant recipient continues submitting grants and the amount of <br />unobligated construction funding continues to grow. <br />• COG passed a policy regarding project banking in 2018. <br />• As fund manager, Public Works desires a COG policy allowing re -appropriation <br />of grant funding for failure to obligate to construction within the year of award. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Significant fund balance is not working in Fund 108 owing to the lack of construction <br />obligation on the part of grant recipients. Awards are several years old with no <br />performance on the part of grant recipients (EXHIBIT 1). In 2018, COG developed <br />numerous policies attempting to formalize how the Public Facilities (PF) Fund (108) <br />could better manage the fund. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />The recent legislative act by the Board of County Commissioners extending the use of <br />distressed County sales and use tax funding to 2032 brings new focus to Fund 108. <br />Currently, significant cash is being held by a handful of grant recipients without any <br />construction obligation. The idea of the legislation is to stimulate economic activity in <br />the County. The lack of grant investment is contrary to that principal and eliminates <br />funding for other grant recipients who have a history of responsible grant investment. <br />Page 1 of 3 <br />PUBLIC WORKS BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />