An Association of Local Governments: Serving Southwestern Utah since 1972
Phone:(435)673-3548 Fax:(435)673-3540 Address: 1070 W. 1600 S., Bldg. B; St. George, UT
The Five County Association of Governments is a voluntary association of local governments from the five southwestern counties of the State of Utah. The five counties in southwestern Utah that comprise the Five County Association of Governments are Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington.
This year, 2023, marks the 50th year since the formal establishment of the Five County Association of Governments. Articles of Association were formally adopted in 1973 by the entities who comprise the Association, thus this year (2023) is this organization's 50th anniversary. While the Five County AOG was officially created in 1973, informal cooperation amongst the five member counties, along with the municipalities within them, as a group, has taken place since the 1950's.
Farsighted leaders of the past envisioned the time when our world-class scenic landscapes, mild climate, beautiful communities and hard-working people would foster the evolution of a major regional center in the West. That time has arrived. Southwestern Utah has come into its own. The Five County Association of Governments is a key player in aiding locally elected officials in coping with regional challenges.
The Association has a main office location in the Tonaquint Center High Tech Business Park in St. George City and a satellite office in Cedar City. We also have dedicated staff in several other locations providing important services within our five county service area. More information on the Association, including our Vision and Mission, can be viewed using the "What is The FCAOG" link on the "About" tab above. Our office addresses, as well as maps to locate them, are found using the "Contact" tab above.
Five County News
2023-03-15
| EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
AT THE FIVE COUNTY AOG |
There is currently one open position
at the Five County Association of Governments..
The Five County
Association of Governments, an equal opportunity employer, is looking
for an OPTIONS COUNSELOR in the Association's Aging division.
Options Counselor performs a variety of professional duties related
to consumer-directed, short-term decision and support to consumers, family
members, caregivers, and others requesting information and assistance from
the Area Agency on Aging. Applications must be received by 5:00
p.m. on March 22, 2023
Click HERE to go to our Human Resources page to view the
complete job announcement and position description,
as well as specific instructions on how to apply, for this open
position.
| DRAFT ANNUAL ACTION
PLAN AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT |
This document will be
the Five County Association of Governments' contribution to
the 2023 Utah Annual Action Plan assembled by the State of Utah’s
Housing and Community Development office, which reports on Community
Development Block Grant activities statewide.The Five County report for the 2023 Utah Annual Action Plan describes activities completed in the past year and offers the region an opportunity to review and update goals year to year. The progress made in the last year is complemented by an understanding of the expected funds for the upcoming fiscal year and a discussion of the projects to be rated and ranked in the coming year. For a much more detailed description of the Annual Action Plan process and to view the draft document, please use the link directly below:
Click HERE to go to the Annual Action Plan webpage.
| THE ASSOCIATION'S FY2022
AUDIT REPORT |
Each year the Five County
Association of Governments has an independent
audit of our organization conducted by a qualified
public auditing firm. The FY2022 Audit was
completed by the Certified Public Accounting firm of
Hafen|Buckner of St. George City, Utah and the report
was presented to our governing body, the Steering
Committee, for acceptance, which they did at their meeting
on December 29, 2022. The FY2022 Audit Report is available for public review as a PDF scanned copy of by clicking on THIS LINK.
| FIVE COUNTY 2022 UTAH
CDBG ANNUAL ACTION PLAN REPORT ADOPTED |
This
Report document is the Five County Association of Governments'
contribution to the 2022 Utah Annual Action Plan assembled
by the State of Utah’s Housing and Community Development office,
which reports on Community Development Block Grant activities
statewide.The Five County Report for the 2022 Utah Annual Action Plan describes activities completed in the past year and offers the region an opportunity to review and update goals year to year. The progress made in the last year is complemented by an understanding of the expected funds for the upcoming fiscal year and a discussion of the projects to be rated and ranked in the coming year. For a much more detailed description of the Annual Action Plan process and to view the final document, please use the link directly below. The public was given an opportunity to comment on the draft document and participate in a public hearing. The final draft Report document was presented to the Five County AOG Steering Committee at their meeting on March 9, 2022, and they approved the Report Document.
Click HERE to go to the Annual Action Plan webpage.
|
ANONYMOUS ETHICS AND
COMPLIANCE HOTLINE |
The Utah Counties Indemnity Pool (UCIP) is
our Association's "insurer". A Fraud Tip
Hotline has been established by UCIP, in cooperation
with Lighthouse Services, LLC. This service has been
set up for UCIP members, such as the Five County
Association of Governments, in order to provide their staff
and citizens with easy access to report fraud, and keep
government open and honest.Fraud tips can be submitted four ways:
Website: www.lighthouse-services.com/uciputah (available in English or Spanish)
Toll-Free Telephone: • English – (877) 410-0007 • Spanish – (800) 216-1288
E-mail: reports@lighthouse-services.com (must include our Association's name with report)
Fax: (215) 689-3885 (must include our Association's name with report)
|
OPPORTUNITY ZONES DESIGNATED
IN UTAH |
A provision from the tax cut legislation
passed by by Congress
in 2017 may have positive economic impacts
in southwestern Utah, with investors incentivized
to develop businesses in some of the area’s
lowest-income neighborhoods. Large swaths
of Washington, Iron, Beaver and Garfield counties
are among the places across Utah identified this
summer as federally-recognized “Opportunity Zones”
— areas designated where
investors can avoid some taxes in exchange
for funding new development.
The hope is that development creates jobs, reduces poverty and sets the groundwork for further economic growth in areas largely being left behind by the state's overall job growth. This region, including even fast-growing Washington County, still ranks overall as a distressed regional economy, based on federal guidelines, thanks to low wages and a limited mix of businesses.
The hope is that development creates jobs, reduces poverty and sets the groundwork for further economic growth in areas largely being left behind by the state's overall job growth. This region, including even fast-growing Washington County, still ranks overall as a distressed regional economy, based on federal guidelines, thanks to low wages and a limited mix of businesses.
Click HERE to go to view a PDF map of this region's Opportunity Zone areas. Click HERE to go to a web page with an interactive map of the nation that you can view all Opportunity Zones.
|
NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION
PLAN FOR REGION |
A updated regional Multi-jurisdictional
Natural Hazard Pre-disaster Mitigation Plan was
developed by the Five County Association
of Governments' staff in collaboration with
all of the cities and towns, the five counties
in this region, as well as the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. The
Plan update includes information regarding the type,
location and extent potential and regularly occurring
hazards in the Five County area and also includes information
on previous occurrences of hazard events and the
likelihood of a future natural hazard events. This update was done through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Once adopted as a "guidance document" by each entity, the 5-year plan will be valid for that entity until 2027. If there are any questions on the Plan update, please contact Mr. Nate Wiberg, Senior Planner, at (435) 673-3548 ext. 105, or via e-mail to nwiberg@fivecounty.utah.gov
Click on this link: https://hazardmitigationplan.org to go to the special web site developed to present the plan to the cities, towns, counties and the public.
|
COMMUNITY SERVICES
DIRECTORY AVAILABLE
|
The popular Community
Services Resource Directory for southwestern
Utah is available. The Directory,
published with Community Services Block Grant funding,
is distributed through the Community Action
Partnership of the Five County Association of
Governments. While the Directory is targeted primarily
to the under served population, many services
apply to all levels of income and need. The Directory is
available to view online or may be purchased.
To view the Directory, please visit the H.E.A.T. and Community Action website at this link: http://fivecountycap.wordpress.com
|
COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
|
The updated Comprehensive
Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) document for
the Five County Association of Governments
economic development region was submitted to
U.S. Department
of Commerce, Economic
Development Administration Denver
Region and was approved by that federal agency. For more information on the CEDS
document, please contact Bryan
Thiriot, Executive Director, Five County Association
of Governments, via e-mail: bthiriot@fivecounty.utah.gov
or by telephone: (435) 673-3548.
| THE ASSOCIATION HAS
A MICROLOAN LOAN PROGRAM |
The Five County Association of Governments
has a microloan fund.
The purpose of this fund is to create permanent,
long-term jobs within the southwestern region
of Utah by providing needed financing to qualified
businesses for eligible activities. Loans
made through the fund are intended to help when commercial
financing proves unreachable. Funds loaned at interest
are repaid into the program and recycled to other businesses,
thus allowing an on-going job creation program.
Funds are available in Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington
County, Utah.
The Southwest Utah Microloan Program, established by the Five County Association of Governments, focuses on loans of $50,000 or less with most being $25,000 or less. The importance of these loans lies in their ability to offset the difficulty that businesses experience in receiving traditional bank financing.
The Southwest Utah Microloan Program, established by the Five County Association of Governments, focuses on loans of $50,000 or less with most being $25,000 or less. The importance of these loans lies in their ability to offset the difficulty that businesses experience in receiving traditional bank financing.
To
find out more about
the loan fund, please contact Gary Zabriskie,
Director of Community and Economic Development
at: gzabriskie@fivecounty.utah.gov , or
phone (435) 673-3548
ext. 126
As required
by Utah Code the Five County Association
of Governments publishes all of
its public meetings on the "Utah Public Meeting Notice"
(UPMN) web site.
You can search for
our meetings by date
or subject keyword. To locate all
of the meeting announcement postings published
on the UPMN site by the Five County Association
of Governments you can use this link and use the "Advanced Search"
tab. You will need to
type in the word five into the "Entity" box, highlight
the "Five County Association of Governments" link that comes up, select
a date range you want to view and then click on the "Submit" button. It
will then show all
upcoming meetings scheduled by the Five
County AOG in the date range you selected.
Alternatively, you
can use this LINK, choose to Find a Notice, and
select "Associations
of Governments" for Government type, choose
"Five County
Association of Governments"
for the Entity, and you will see the Public
Body list with links to each of them.
Click Here for more info on what the Five County AOG is about.
