02/23/2023
IN FULL DISCLOSURE, this page supported Grand County’s ability to spend TRT funds on economic diversification in the passing of HB247 two years ago. The new HB416 introduced into the legislation this year would revoke that ability, a desire that gained incredible bipartisan support when it passed nearly unanimously through the House last Friday. Shockingly, strong support for the bill was shown by House Democrats. Even with a paid lobbyist, Grand was only able to secure 3 out of 14 House Democrats' votes in opposition. This shocking across-the-aisle rebuke of Grand County spurred an investigation that now gives no pleasure to report.
“Catastrophic” was the word used when Grand’s Strategic Director first told the County Commission (and the press) how this bill would impact essential services prior to it being drafted, followed by inflammatory statements stating it would force a property tax increase. The motivation behind the bill was explained to be political pettiness. Citizens were understandably upset, frustrated and confused. Reassurances from the bill’s sponsor confirmed it would not threaten essential services in any way, and that it would not remove any funding but only remove the ability to spend the funding on economic diversity, there would be no justification for a property tax increase. Some felt this assurance to be untrue and continued to worry about survivability, while others felt that political fear tactics were being employed by those they had come to trust.
Those speaking in favor of the bill in the sometimes dramatic legislative hearing focused on the manner Grand County used the funds in a particular $1 million grant program. Grand County and others opposing the new bill (HB416) argued that concerns over the grant program stemmed from state-imposed time pressure. They stated a “use it or lose it” time pressure forced a quick spending of the funds, and pleaded for more time to “tweak the program”.
However, when speaking at the hearing, Grand County’s Strategic Director, who presented himself as Grand’s Chief Financial Officer, detailed a compromise he had struck during his lobbying efforts to pass the original HB247 two years ago. This compromise limited the County’s ability to “hold” TRT funds in reserve, ensuring that most of the money would have to be spent on economic diversification activities as TRT funds came in. The time pressure was self-induced, coming from the County’s failure to spend the funds as they came in. Furthermore, in a 2020 local news article, the Strategic Director/CFO (who was then the County Administrator) spoke of the “decades” long effort to gain this ability to use TRT funds for economic diversification.
After spending the time and money to successfully lobby the state in 2021, and the subsequent two years since, the Strategic Director’s only plan for how to use this funding was to quickly dispense of it out of a self-imposed time pressure to meet a deadline put in place two years prior with his direct involvement. These facts defeat the concept of an unexpected, urgent pressure from the State and beg questions regarding the County’s lack of strategic planning and responsible fiscal management.
The Strategic Director also stated that the “use it or lose it” provisions made them focus on creating the grant program to keep the funds in the community, thinking it a good idea at the time but now saying “it seemed to be a miscalculation”. A little research into the grant program indicates the miscalculation appears not to have been the creation of the grant program, but the lack of adherence to its own policies and procedures.
Newly uploaded documents on the County website reveal that a four-point scoring system was created to ensure fairness in the grant approval process. However, the ranking system does not appear to have been utilized in the selection of who was awarded funds. Two applicants who scored the same resulted in one receiving funds while the other did not, and a very highly-scored applicant was denied funding while one of the worst-scoring applicants was approved. Requirements seemed to change per applicant as some grants were approved for funds to be spent on employee wages while others were denied grants because the funds would be spent on wages.
All of this points to either the ranking system being extremely deficient or an utter failure of oversight in ensuring adherence. The latter appears more likely when reading grant approval comments like this, “The committee felt that, though this project does not represent the economic diversification as outlined in Grand County guiding documents and policies, it does represent a commitment to our region”.
Oversight responsibilities are difficult to ascertain as in the past few years numerous, seemingly duplicate boards and councils have been created, folded and recreated. They include the:
Economic Development Department (EDD)
Community and Economic Development Department
Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB)
Economic Diversification Advisory Council (EDAC)
Grand County Economic Diversification Council (GDEDC)
Oddly, there are no public meeting minutes available on the County’s website for any of these various economic boards and committees, nor are there meeting records from the Economic Department itself. This makes it difficult to determine if proper conflict of interest recusals were exercised, such as when a County Commissioner received grant funding himself.
In effort to review the County budget raised additional fiscal management concerns as there appear to be irregularities that do not adhere to industry standard accounting practices. An internal audit performed back in 2021 raised serious concerns about the fiscal management of Grand County’s $70 million budget. As part of this audit, the County scored zero out of a possible 50 points due to a lack of proper qualifications and training, noting specifically that no one on the managing staff retained an accounting degree. Grand County shared their solution a few months ago by announcing they had retained an employee who is currently going to school in hopes of obtaining a basic accounting degree. Again, this is a $70 million budget.
Interestingly, budget responsibilities have followed a particular employee, Chris Baird, as they moved from the elected office of the County Clerk into the role of County Administrator. Budget responsibilities then moved again as he left the County Administrator position for the newly-created position as Grand County’s Strategic Director. There are no public records to be found for why this second-highest-paid position in the County was needed. It appears that Human Resources did not publicly advertise this position, and the County Commission has offered no record of discussion to justify this role. There is no record of the Commission appointing him Grand’s Chief Financial Officer, which appears to have been done after the internal audit showing massive fiscal failures.
Lack of funding has always contributed to Grand’s inability to dedicate true political focus toward diversifying its economy. After working for decades to obtain an enviable $1 million budget, the resounding message from the state is that Grand County has failed miserably. Grand’s inability to secure the support of even House Democrats who overwhelmingly voted for HB416 sends a strong message.
Sadly, this golden opportunity has been squandered away due to the appalling lack of strategic planning and fiscal irresponsibility.
