A relatively small but significant item among the big-ticket issues caught our attention at Monday's meeting of the Catawba County Board of Commissioners.
The subject was a grant the county secured for the Animal Control facility.
The county encourages grant applications in all departments from the staff.
"They (grants) facilitate what (expenditures) we already have," said Commission Chairwoman Kitty Barnes. "They're not for starting new projects."
In other words, the county doesn't get wind of a grant and create a program so it can apply.
If that happens, the taxpayers can get stuck when the money runs out.
Grants are finite. They don't last forever. When the money is gone, the program must be continued at taxpayer expense or dropped.
Neither option is satisfactory if the program is deemed beneficial.
County staff can go after grants for existing projects with planning and execution strategies already in place.
An example is the grant for animal control announced Monday. Treatment of animals at the facility is an ongoing expense. The $7,500 from Pet Finder will go for treatment of kennel cough, a rather common malady.
Not only is that money the county doesn't have to spend, treatment improves an animal's adoptability.
Adopting out more animals lessens county expenses, too.
It's a minor thing compared to securing money for school construction, but every bit helps.
County staffers do not have an entirely free hand in going after grants. They are subject to oversight. You don't want to surprise the bosses. But the county has reduced the tedium and enabled the staff to move quickly when an opportunity arises.
That the county has a mechanism to expedite the process for obtaining free money and encourages the staff to be alert for possibilities is good government.
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