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

Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.


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
ethics 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.


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
NHMP 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    
Community Services Directory 2015 Edition 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
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.

Click HERE to view the approved CEDS Document.  (7.26MB PDF file)

  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.


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.