La Grande seeks grant support to boost city funding opportunities
La Grande is hiring grant support to track funding streams, vet opportunities and help chase money for city projects as local dollars stay tight.
La Grande has issued a request for proposals for Grant Opportunity Identification and Funding Support Services. City leaders are trying to build a steadier pipeline of money for local projects, from infrastructure and facilities to economic development and downtown work.
The contractor would do more than scan for open grants. The firm must identify and evaluate opportunities that fit the city’s strategic priorities, capital projects, programs, infrastructure needs and other anticipated initiatives, then learn the city’s operations well enough to deliver timely grant leads the city can realistically pursue. The work would also include monitoring funding programs, making strategic funding recommendations and helping with limited application support on priority opportunities the city and contractor identify together.
City Manager John O’Brien said the effort would strengthen La Grande’s ability to identify funding resources and pursue opportunities that support community priorities and future projects. On February 4, council minutes said the City Manager’s Priority Framework would be used to evaluate budget requests, phase investments and manage tradeoffs as part of the Fiscal Transformation Initiative and the city’s Five-Year Strategic Plan.
The city’s economic development department oversees the Urban Renewal Plan, the Economic Development Plan and Main Street. La Grande is separately seeking a consultant for a five-year Economic Development Strategic Plan, with funding available beginning July 1, 2026. La Grande completed an Economic Opportunities Analysis in 2022 under Statewide Planning Goal 9 to forecast employment-land needs over the next 20 years.
The 2026 Urban Renewal Call for Projects accepted applications from March 9 through May 15, 2026. Funding was limited and not guaranteed. Budget committee materials also proposed a general fund property tax rate of 7.4392 per $1,000 of assessed value for fiscal year 2026-27. Union County’s estimated population was 26,058 on July 1, 2024.
The contract deadline is Friday, July 31, 2026, at 5 p.m., with submissions due electronically in PDF format to the city’s human resources director.
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