- April 23, 2024
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by: Gary Davidson
Activity Project Manager/Community Information, Volusia County Government
With voters overwhelmingly giving it a 20-year renewal, Volusia County’s highly popular ECHO program has a new set of operating rules. The County Council adopted the new rules on Tuesday, Aug. 17, with many of the changes designed to provide enhanced assistance to agencies seeking county ECHO grants to help fund local projects.
Since Volusia voters first approved it, the ECHO program has helped finance more than 220 environmental, cultural, historical and outdoor recreational projects throughout the county. The program and the small property tax that voters first approved in 2000 to finance the ECHO program were scheduled to expire this year. But a November 2020 referendum resulted in 72.4% support to extend the program through 2041.
Most of the operational changes approved on Tuesday came by way of recommendations from the county’s ECHO Advisory Committee, which conducted a series of listening sessions to get input and suggestions from the public. Among the changes, the maximum annual award for standard ECHO grants was increased from $400,000 to $600,000. And the maximum award for projects that meet the program criteria for exceptional grants was increased from $1.8 million for up to three consecutive years to $2.5 million, with distribution over a three year period. Another change increases the maximum amount a project or facility can receive – from $2.4 million to $3.1 million.
For smaller nonprofit organizations that sometimes struggled in the past to come up with the required cash match needed to qualify for an ECHO grant, the cash match requirement was reduced from 50% to either 20% or 30% depending on the size of the organization.
The county has developed its well-used trails system with help from a $1 million annual allocation of ECHO funds. But more trails are in the works. Based on a recommendation from the advisory committee, the County Council increased ECHO’s annual trail set aside to $1.5 million. Also, trail amenities such as restrooms, parking areas and water stations will now be eligible for ECHO funds. And in an effort to make the program self-funded and provide adequate staffing to ensure continued success, the council approved the advisory committee’s recommendation to fund two ECHO staff positions out of the proceeds from the ECHO property tax.
“You want the fund, the ECHO fund, to pay for its resources,” said Councilwoman Barb Girtman. “I’m certainly in support of it, and I think it’s the best way to go.”
Other recommendations embraced by the council came from the county’s internal auditor, who’s tasked with reviewing ECHO annually to ensure that the program is operating efficiently, effectively and in compliance with its guiding rules and regulations. Two such modifications approved by the council on Tuesday to strengthen procedures were:
