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September 8, 2026
CCAO held our 2026 Summer Symposium in Hamilton County last week! The event included several sessions to help county commissioners, county executives, and county council members learn from colleagues across the state.
One session focused on Hamilton County's response to the addiction crisis. The panel included Tom Synan, Chief of Police of Village of Newtown; Mike Davenport, Commander of the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition Task Force; Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus; Meagan Guthrie, Director of the Hamilton County Office of Addiction Response; Sarah Coyne, Care & Training Liaison for the Hamilton County Office of Addiction Response.
The presentations from each session are available on the Summer Symposium event page.
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Top Top Federal temporary appropriations bill signed, OMB rule delay included
On Wednesday, President Trump signed HR 6500 into law. The temporary appropriations bill forestalls a potential federal government shutdown by providing funding through December 11.
Key for counties is a provision of HR 6500 that delays the implementation of the new Office of Management and Budget rewrite of the Uniform Guidance, the government-wide rule governing federal grants administration. The soonest the rule can be implemented is December 12.
NACo, along with other national associations, supported the implementation delay due to a compressed compliance timeline and due to components of the revised Uniform Guidance that would have increased compliance costs for counties and would have reduced certainty around grant funding streams.
NACo's resource hub on the Uniform Guidance is available here. Top FINAL WEEK to submit applications for SFY 2027 Brownfield Remediation Grants
Applications for the 2027 round of Brownfield Remediation Grants will close on this Friday.
The Brownfield Remediation Program provides grants for the cleanup of brownfield sites and assists with the remediation of hazardous substances or petroleum at industrial, commercial, or institutional properties.
Remediation may include the acquisition of a brownfield, demolition performed at a brownfield, and the installation or upgrade of the minimum amount of infrastructure necessary to make a brownfield site operational for economic development activity.
The SFY 2027 program year will provide roughly $120 million in grants, with funds being awarded on a merit-based evaluation process that takes the following criteria into consideration:
- Economic merit of the project to the county, surrounding counties, and state;
- Ensuring that projects are awarded in different regions of the state;
- Readiness of the project to begin upon notification of award; and,
- Local support of the proposed project.
Grant tables updated
The state and federal funding opportunities tables below (and accessible on their own page) have been updated.
State Funding Opportunities
- Rural EMS and Dispatch Modernization Grant Program
- Intended to assist in improving emergency communications and services in rural areas of the state.
- Open to rural PSAPs, dispatch centers, EMS agencies, and Fire agencies
- $12 million available. Unspecified if a local match is required.
- Applications due by October 6.
Federal Funding Opportunities
- Crisis Response Training Program
- Intended to improve law enforcement responses to individuals experiencing crises who have behavioral health conditions, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, and/or traumatic brain injuries
- Split into two eligibility categories: One for law enforcement agencies and one for correctional facilities
- Maximum award is $650,000 with no local match needed
- Applications due by October 5
- Reducing Injury and Death of Missing Individuals with Dementia and Developmental Disabilities Program
- To support public safety efforts to reduce death and injuries of individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities who, due to their condition, may wander from safe environments.
- Open to law enforcement agencies and health care agencies.
- Maximum award is $150,000 with no local match needed
- Applications due by October 5
- Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Grants
- Split into four programs to assist in developing resiliency plans, improving resilience of existing infrastructure, improving evacuation routes, and improving resiliency of infrastructure at heightened risk due to coastal locations.
- General availability
- A total of $788 million available
- Applications due by October 9
State funding opportunities
The table below contains current state grant or loan programs. A more comprehensive list can be found on the Ohio Grants Partnership webpage.
Grant Program
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Brief Summary
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Eligibility Criteria
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Amount Available
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Application Due Date
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| Brownfield Remediation Program |
To assist in the remediation of hazardous substances or petroleum at industrial, commercial, or institutional properties. |
General availability |
$120 million available
No match required
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September 11, 2026 |
| Rural EMS and Dispatch Modernization Grant Program |
To improve emergency medical services (EMS), public safety communications, and emergency dispatch capabilities in rural communities. The project is intended to strengthen emergency response systems through investments in technology, workforce development, communications infrastructure, and innovative models of care |
PSAPs, emergency dispatch centers, EMS, and Fire serving rural areas |
$12 million available
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October 6, 2026 |
| Precinct Election Official Recruitment and Training Grant |
To provide assistance in the recruitment and training of precinct election officials for the 2026 November general election. |
County boards of elections |
Set allocation per county, contact the Secretary of State for further information
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Unspecified, but terms must be completed by November 2, 2026 |
| H2Ohio Conservation Ditch Grant Program |
To provide reimbursement for the construction of two-stage and self-forming conservation ditches. |
Soil and water conservation districts and county engineers |
Unspecified
Reimbursement model
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June 1, 2027
(Rolling until) |
Federal funding opportunities
The table below contains a sampling of current federal grant or loan programs. A full list can be found on Grants.gov.
Grant Program
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Brief Summary
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Eligibility Criteria
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Amount Available
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Application Due Date
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| Training and Services to End Abuse in Later Life Program |
To support a comprehensive approach to addressing abuse in later life, including domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, neglect, abandonment, economic abuse, or willful harm committed against victims who are 50 years of age or older. |
General availability |
$8 million available
No local match required
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September 14, 2026 |
| Low or No Emission Bus Grant Program |
To support the purchase or lease of low-emission and zero-emission transit buses, including acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting facilities. |
Local governments that operate fixed-route bus service. |
$589 million available
Local match of 20% required (some exceptions apply)
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September 21, 2026 |
| Buses and Bus Facilities Program |
To support the purchase, rehabilitate, or lease of buses and related equipment, and to support the construction, purchase, rehabilitation, or lease of bus-related facilities. |
Local governments that operate fixed-route bus service. |
$21 million available
Local match of 20% required (some exceptions apply)
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September 21, 2026 |
| North American Wetlands Conservation Act Standard |
To support projects that involve long-term protection, restoration, and/or enhancement of wetlands and associated uplands habitats for the benefit of all wetlands-associated migratory birds. |
General availability |
$46 million available
1-to-1 local match required
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September 25, 2026 |
| Crisis Response Training Program |
To improving law enforcement responses to individuals in crisis who have behavioral health conditions, intellectual and developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, and/or traumatic brain injuries. |
Two pots:
One for law enforcement agencies
One for correctional facilities
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Max award: $650,000
No match required
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October 5, 2026 |
| Reducing Injury and Death of Missing Individuals with Dementia and Developmental Disabilities Grant Program |
To support public safety efforts to reduce deaths and injuries of individuals with forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, or developmental disabilities, such as autism, who, due to their condition, wander from safe environments. |
Law agencies and health care agencies |
Max Award: $150,000
No match required
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October 5, 2026 |
| Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Planning Grants |
To assist entities in developing a Resilience Improvement Plan. |
General availability |
$79 million available
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October 9, 2026 |
| PROTECT Resilience Improvement Grants |
To improve the ability of existing surface transportation assets to withstand one or more elements of a weather event or natural disaster, or to increase the resilience of surface transportation infrastructure from the impacts of changing conditions, such as sea level rise, flooding, wildfires, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters. |
General availability |
$551 million available
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October 9, 2026 |
| PROTECT Community Resilience and Evacuation Route Grants |
To strengthen and protect evacuation routes essential for supporting emergency evacuations during emergency event. |
General availability |
$79 million available
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October 9, 2026 |
| PROTECT At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants |
To enhance the resilience of highway and non-rail infrastructure, including bridges, roads, pedestrian walkways, and bicycle lanes, and associated infrastructure, such as culverts and tide gates to protect highways, that are subject to risks associated with their coastal location. |
General availability to entities on coastlines, including Great Lakes |
$79 million available
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October 9, 2026 |
| Title X Family Planning Services Grants |
To promote the general family planning programs and goals under Title X of the Public Health Service Act. |
General availability |
Maximum award: $22 million
Local match of between 1% and 10%
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January 9, 2027 |
Top Each week Counties Current highlights the happenings in our counties in the words of their local media.
One story from each of the CCAO's five districts is highlighted, and on occasion other stories may be highlighted as well.
A paid subscription may be required to view the full article in some cases.
Northwest District
Commissioner calls for county collaboration
Sandusky Register, September 5, 2026
Op-Ed by Erie County Commissioner Steve Shoffner
Nearly every dollar that funds our local government comes directly from the taxpayers of Erie County. When families, seniors and local businesses are carefully managing their budgets, local government has a clear duty to do the same.
For too long, artificial political boundaries have created duplicate operations, fragmented services and increased costs across dozens of overlapping political subdivisions.
To confront this challenge head-on, the Erie County commissioners formed the Blue-Ribbon Commission. Tasked with examining public spending and identifying operational redundancies across our county, cities, townships and school districts, the commission confirmed what many already knew: intergovernmental collaboration is our single greatest tool to lower the cost of government and deliver meaningful taxpayer relief.
Today, we are translating those recommendations into tangible action on multiple fronts.
First, the county is spearheading an ongoing study for governments and political subdivisions throughout Erie County by evaluating insurance coverage, which includes escalating costs and market availability. By examining how the county, our municipalities, townships and public entities can leverage collective shared risk pools and joint purchasing for healthcare and liability coverage, we will likely be able to rein in spiraling premiums while maintaining quality benefits for public employees.
Second — and most critically — we must seize a historic opportunity to possibly regionalize our public water and sanitary sewer services.
Currently, our utility infrastructure is carved into separate, disjointed systems spanning the county, Sandusky, Huron, Vermilion and Milan. This fragmented framework produces redundant administrative overhead, separate billing operations and competing capital improvement plans — all drawing from the exact same types of underground networks and Lake Erie water sources. A unified, regional utility model could streamline operations, equalize rate structures, modernize aging infrastructure and foster new economic development across the entire region.
We already know regionalization works. Years of cooperation — from centralized emergency 911 dispatching to regional planning and economic partnerships — have proven that sharing services saves millions without sacrificing service quality.
Achieving this requires political will. Regional cooperation is not about one community winning and another losing; it is about building shared strength and fiscal stability for everyone who calls Erie County home.
Northeast District
'Lawyer shortage,' rising case volume driving Ashland County's court-appointed council costs
Ashland Source, September 3, 2026
Local lawyers are becoming increasingly difficult to find in Ashland County, according to Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good.
The court does not have enough money left in its court-appointed council fund to fund the remainder of 2026, Good said Thursday.
The Ashland County Board of Commissioners appropriated $85,000 for the work in 2026, the same as this past year, Good said, when the court also ran out of money to cover appointed council fees.
As the fund depleted at the end of November 2025, the court didn’t seek an additional appropriation from the board before the year ended. Nearly $10,000 in appointed council bills carried over into 2026, the judge said.
Commissioners unanimously approved on Thursday an additional $30,000 to cover anticipated expenses for the remainder of the year.
Good said $30,000 is the amount Ashland County Auditor Cindy Funk estimates will get the court through the rest of the year.
The county is responsible for funding court-appointed council fees for all courts in Ashland County. However, the state currently reimburses 80-percent of those costs as long as the county submits a request for reimbursement within 90 days from the end of the calendar month in which a case was disposed.
Attorneys do not always submit their bills as timely as the judge would prefer, he admitted.
“I’m hesitant to give them a hard time because I only have two lawyers in Ashland County willing to do these cases because we pay them less than half of what they would make otherwise,” he said. “We don’t have many lawyers, hardly, left in town anymore.”
Central District
Champaign County Commissioners oppose Grid Growth Ventures transmission project
Peak of Ohio, September 4, 2026
The Champaign County Board of Commissioners has announced its opposition to the proposed Grid Growth Ventures 765-kV Transmission Project through Champaign County.
The commissioners cited concerns about the size of the proposed structures and potential impacts on property owners, farmland, local communities, future development and the environment.
The full statement from the Champaign County Commissioners appears below:
While we understand the need for reliable and safe power for our citizens, we do not believe installing huge numbers of massive 175-foot-tall structures, some 150 feet wide is consistent with our county’s comprehensive plan, landscapes and properties.
With the information We currently have, we do not want this transmission line routed through Champaign County. We have grave concerns about the potential impact on:
• Property owners and property values
• Farmland
• Local communities
• Future development and other unforeseen issues we may be unaware of at this time.
This will permanently damage our area Property values, farming, drainage systems, wetlands like the Cedar Bog, and wildlife, are a few of our many concerns
We challenge the Ohio Power Siting Board, and the PJM to analyze why such massive power is needed in our semi-rural area, and what is the cause, for these lines to be run in our communities and farms. Our citizens are being asked to bear the burden of miles of our county farms and homesteads being forever changed. This not only affects the landowners who may be forced into housing these massive structures and lines, it also radically changes the lifestyle of those adjacent to the lines,
While we understand the final decision on a major transmission project is handled at the Ohio Power Siting Board, we feel it is our responsibility to represent Champaign County and our citizens and make our position known.
We also encourage all citizens to make their voice known by going to the public meeting on Wednesday, September 23 from 4pm-7pm at the county fairgrounds, we also encourage citizens to contact the Ohio Power Siting Board. These people work for us, and they need to hear from Champaign County citizens in great numbers. At the time of this release, there is no active case filed at the OPSB, but we expect that in the spring of 2027. We encourage citizens to politely reach out to the OPSB and eventually post letters in opposition to this project. You can go to https://opsb.ohio.gov/cases and put in Champaign County once the case is opened.
— Sincerely, The Champaign County Commissioners
Southwest District
HCVSO talks lack of space
Times Gazette, September 2, 2026
A discussion between representatives of the Highland County Veteran Services Office (HCVSO) and the Highland County Board of Commissioners was held at the latter’s weekly Wednesday morning meeting.
Tim Hazelwood, director of the Highland County Veteran Services Office, was in attendance at the meeting to discuss the space issues currently present at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. He said the HCVSO has been trying to get more space for almost a year.
“Months ago, I stood right over there against that wall with you and Brad, and you asked us to be patient, and we have been very patient,” he said.
Hazelwood said the office has people coming in and needing to have “private conversations” out in the open due to the space issues.
Brad Roades, a member of the board of commissioners, said that, when the county wants to change or renovate a building, there are multiple organizations the county has to notify to move forward.
“It’s not like we can just go in and do it,” he said. “It’s something where we have to do it through the city. It’s gotta be filed. You have to have someone stamping stuff. You have to have architects coming in, which is time consuming.”
Roades then said that the board had just received emails this week about drawings from architects in the last couple of days about which one was preferred at the location.
The members of HCVSO then voiced their concerns about the viability of the location for the events the office plans on Veterans Day and around Christmas, due to the lack of space.
“Now, I’m not any better than anybody else, I can promise you that, but I can also promise you that we could have had this done by now,” Hazelwood said. “We feel, as a veterans office in this county, that it does not get treated properly.”
Dave Daniels, vice president of the board of commissioners, though, took exception to those comments.
“I take exception to the idea that we treat veterans poorly in this county,” he said. “I take exception to it every day. Everybody tries to play that card when something doesn’t go their way. They say, “Oh, you’re against us.” That’s not true. That is not true. You came in here and asked for a building about a year and a half ago. We gave you what you wanted. Then, when it didn’t go the way you wanted, then you were trying to blame us. This goes back and forth all the time. We fund the veterans to the amount of money that we’re allowed to and that we’re required to. We give that to you to service those veterans. There’s been a space issue out there for quite a while and we’ve been trying to address it in a number of different ways. We recognize that what we do is probably going to make somebody unhappy, but we’re trying to balance everybody’s needs that’s in that building, but I take exception to the idea that we don’t treat veterans fairly and that’s my opinion, and I’m tired of hearing it. I’m tired of hearing it out of you, and I’m tired of hearing it out of everybody.”
The board of commissioners said they will continue to work on a solution to meet everyone’s needs.
Southeast District
Washington County Jail appropriation leads to discussion on costs to house inmates
Marietta Times, September 4, 2026
Washington County Commissioners on Thursday approved the sheriff’s office request for additional appropriations in the jail fund, leading to a discussion on jail capacity and costs.
for the housing of inmates at the Monroe County Jail at the Washington County Commissioners meeting Thursday morning, leading to discussion on jail capacity and costs. Muskingum Township Trustee President, Jay Huck, asks Commissioners to consider paying for the repair of Masonic Park Lane following the Devola Sewer Project.
The sheriff's office requested $10,600 for the cost of holding inmates at the Monroe County Jail in August. Sheriff Mark Warden stated one inmate is there because he has an ongoing lawsuit against the county and the other was moved due to an incident that required him to be housed in a different location and the county jail did not have another option. Warden also cited capacity issues at the jail, which has 112 inmates with a capacity for 124, set by the Bureau of Adult Detention housing standards. Warden said while he doesn't want to house inmates in Monroe County, laws prohibit housing more inmates than the jail’s capacity.
Commissioner Greg Nohe, a former Washington County Jail administrator, said the expense of housing inmates at different facilities "is a cost to the county that we can't sustain."
Nohe also stated that he housed inmates over the 124-person capacity while he was serving as administrator.
"You were breaking the law,” Warden said, adding the sheriff at the time “didn't give you the ability to (move inmates to different facilities)."
Warden stated that according to Ohio Revised Code 341.12 and attorney general's opinion 2019-025 the sheriff is required to move inmates off-site once capacity has been reached.
Warden said he wants to build on to the jail for additional capacity but the county wouldn't be financially able to support it. The estimate for additions to the jail was $7.5 million, according to Warden, and would have cost the county $400,000 a year for the next 30 years.
"I just don't think we can do that," Warden said. Top SEPTEMBER 18
CORSA Annual Membership Meeting
OCTOBER 2
CCAO/CEAO Southeast District Meeting (RSVP by September 15)
OCTOBER 9
CCAO Board of Directors Meeting
OCTOBER 12
Columbus Day - Holiday
OCTOBER 30
CEBCO Board of Directors Meeting Top
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