Perry County to apply for CHIRP traffic-safety grant after deputy reports declining fatalities

The Perry County Council authorized staff to apply for the Comprehensive Highway Injury Reduction Program (CHIRP), a federal traffic-safety grant, after a presentation from Chief Deputy Dickinson highlighting reductions in local traffic fatalities.

Chief Deputy Dickinson told the council the CHIRP program combines three enforcement projects: Click It or Ticket (seatbelt enforcement), driving-under-the-influence enforcement, and a stop-arm violation project referred to as Project SAVE focused on school-bus safety. "The title of the grant is the comprehensive highway injury reduction program, but we call it CHIRP for short," Dickinson said.

Dickinson said Perry County engaged all three projects beginning after 2023. "In 2023, we had five fatalities in Perry County... we went from five fatalities in 2023 to three in 2024... 2025, it reduced again down to two. 2026, we've had zero so far," he told the council, presenting the data as evidence the program is effective.

Staff explained the CHIRP award is a reimbursement grant administered through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute as the grantee; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the federal source. The grant requires a 20% match, and Dickinson said the grant will not pay the 7.65% FICA portion of payroll, so that portion is included in the local match. Reimbursements occur quarterly, and staff said detailed payroll and timekeeping records are required for audits.

Council members discussed whether a multi-jurisdictional traffic-safety partnership (Tell City, Cannelton and the sheriff's office) should serve as a single fiscal lead. Staff said that approach could be more efficient for reporting but would complicate reimbursement flow and auditing and that the grant-window timeline is too short to organize a partnership for this cycle.

Council member Corey moved to approve applying for the CHIRP grant; Gail seconded the motion and the council approved it by voice vote. Staff estimated the likely request would be about $25,000, similar to previous years.

Next steps: staff will submit the application by the stated deadline and, if awarded, coordinate quarterly reimbursement reporting and payroll audits with the auditor's office.