Commissioners consider $44,000 countywide grant-writer to pursue federal and state funds

County commissioners discussed a proposal to add a grant-writer position to Bradley County government that Troy, the emergency management director, said would work countywide to pursue and manage grants, including reporting and audit responsibilities.

Troy told commissioners the position is budgeted at a $44,000 annual salary and described the role as responsible for assisting multiple departments: "emergency management is responsible to assist all of the other emergency response agencies and make sure that they're prepared, they're trained, they have the equipment that they need." He said the grant-writer would be proactive in identifying opportunities and would handle reporting and compliance: "We get audited on every grant just about every year. We manage 3 to 4 grants a year currently."

Commissioners pressed for measurable benchmarks and transparency. Commissioner Collins suggested publishing the grants the county is pursuing, their expected dollar amounts and the community benefits: "Here are the grants that we're pursuing ... Here's what it brings in dollar wise. Here's what it does to the community." Troy agreed that some grants can cover the writer's compensation and said practices vary by grant; he also said the grant-writer would be a county employee though some grants allow compensation language.

Members of the public who spoke in the session supported the idea and asked whether a grant writer could be paid a percentage of awards rather than a salary. Troy said payment terms depend on the grant and that some allow pay structures while others do not.

Commissioners asked that the role be used across departments rather than limited to a single office and discussed sharing the position between departments with lower grant volume. Troy and commissioners agreed the role should be proactive and that clear benchmarks and public reporting would help show the position's return on investment. No formal vote was recorded; commissioners asked staff to include further detail in budget materials.