FINAL Proposal Letter

Aubry Richards
Dillan Benson
Jeremiah Harrison
April 26, 2011


Home Energy Assistance Target
(HEAT)

The Bear River Association of Governments (BRAG) is requesting funds for the HEAT program. BRAG is a tri-county Association that serves the counties of Box Elder, Cache, and Rich. The HEAT program is designed to provide assistance for low income families in each of these three counties. HEAT has provided utility assistance to 4,000 families this year and with an increase in funding through a Community Development Block Grant, HEAT will be able to increase the number of families we can help to 6,000. We are requesting $500,000 from the annual allocation of $8 million that the Utah Dept. of Community and Culture receives from the federal government specifically for projects for low income families. With an increase in funds available to the HEAT program, we will also be able to increase the amount each of our existing clientele can receive to compensate for the rise in unemployment and the increase in heating costs.

Each year the Utah department of Community and Culture receives $8 Million from the Federal Government for the specific purpose of funding low to moderate income families in several areas, including housing. The eligible projects according to Utah Government website are “Infrastructure projects (water systems, sewers, and sidewalks), public facilities, community services, housing, and economic development.” The same site also says that these funds are reserved for all counties except for Salt Lake County. Because we are three of the remaining 28 counties and in population make about 10 percent of the available recipients of the funds we feel that 6 percent of the funds are a fair allocation.

This is a perfect opportunity to use funds earmarked for low income families in a way that has immediate and powerful effects. The HEAT program is designed to pay an allocation of low income families heating bill based on the number of family members and the income the family makes. In the last year we have provided heating assistance in to over 4,000 families. We have had to turn many families away based on limited funds. Through the grant we will be able to give an additional 2,000 families assistance and raise the amount we are able to give to each family. This is a low risk project; the systems are already in place and succeeding so the chance for a failure and wasting the money is very low.

Due to the economic recession of the last several years there are many more families that qualify for this program than have in previous years. In the three counties covered in the HEAT program unemployment has increased by a large factor in the previous year. In Cache County unemployment has gone from 5 percent to 6, in Box Elder County it has increased 1.2 percent, from 8 to 9.2, and in Rich County it has increased from 5.9 to 6.2 percent. We project that due to the rise in oil costs the cost of heating a home will increase 15 percent, from $986 yearly to $1137. These two factors have caused our funds we currently operate with to be inadequate to meet the needs of the families in our counties.

We will use the added funds from the grant to increase funding to our current clients, add new families to our client list, and also educate all of our clients on how to minimize their heating costs. We are confident that with the Board of Directors we have we can utilize these funds in swiftly and efficiently meeting these goals.

The Bear River Association of Governments is best described with this paragraph from their website;
“Bear River Association of Governments (BRAG) was formed in 1971 by Box Elder, Cache, and Rich Counties. BRAG is a voluntary organization of local governments created to facilitate intergovernmental cooperation and to insure the orderly and harmonious coordination of federal, state, and local programs for the solution of mutual problems of the region. BRAG's goal is to serve as a multi-purpose organization, utilizing their combined total resources, to provide a more effective means for planning and development of the physical, economic, and human resources of the region.”
We are asking for $500,000 based on the population in our three counties. Also based on our current budget we have successfully assisted 4,000 families with their heating bill, and with these funds we will be able to increase the funding for those families and offer assistance to many more families in need.

We feel that we have made a compelling case for the approval of this grant and know that we will be able to change people’s lives with the money. We urge the approval of our grant request and will be more than happy to provide any additional information in order to justify the approval we desire. Contact Jeremiah Harrison for more information.

Signed by the Chairman, Mr. Van Dyke