Polk County

Polk County Auditor, a U.S. local government entity based in Des Moines, Iowa, holds federal grant awards as a prime recipient and subrecipient across housing, emergency management, public health, workforce development, and environmental conservation programs, with recent activity concentrated in lead-hazard remediation and behavioral health crisis services.

As a county auditor's office, Polk County Auditor operates exclusively as a grant recipient rather than a federal contractor; the organization holds no federal contract vehicles and does not compete for task orders or IDIQs. The federal award footprint is dominated by grant work (88% of recent awards), with 35% as prime recipient and 65% as subrecipient flowing through state intermediaries including the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Department of Justice, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department, and Workforce Development Center.

The top five funding sources by award count account for 45% of recent awards. The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs (Victims of Crime account) leads with eight awards supporting sexual assault victim services, crime victim compensation assistance, and homicide survivor support in Polk and Warren counties. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters (Financial Assistance) follows with seven awards for emergency protective measures. The Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control carries six awards, including a $6 million project grant (CFDA 14.900) awarded March 1, 2026, to conduct lead inspections, risk assessments, interim control measures, and abatement work in pre-1960 housing units in low-income and minority neighborhoods, with capacity-building for local contractors in lead-safe work practices running through March 2030. The Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 carries five awards for regional climate action planning and air quality monitoring. The Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service provides three awards for streambank erosion control and habitat restoration in Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt and other Polk County conservation areas.

Recent prime grant work includes a $12 thousand definitive contract from Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 awarded July 1, 2025, for sexual assault response services through June 30, 2030, performed in North Sioux City, South Dakota; a $750 thousand Bureau of Justice Assistance project grant (CFDA 16.753) awarded July 1, 2024, in partnership with Broadlawns Medical Center to establish a behavioral health crisis services hub in Des Moines offering triage and assessment, crisis observation and stabilization centers, behavioral health urgent care, and sobering services, completing June 30, 2025; and cooperative agreements from the Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 (August 1, 2023) and the Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3 (September 1, 2022) for regional climate mitigation planning and wetland and upland habitat restoration, both extending through 2027 and 2030 respectively.

Subrecipient activity is extensive and recent. Polk County receives sub-awards from Iowa Department of Public Health for public health emergency preparedness, HIV and STI prevention and testing, immunization coordination, and disease intervention specialist staffing; from Iowa Department of Justice for victim services (sexual assault, violent crime, and homicide survivor support); from Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department for emergency protective measures and disaster response management; from Iowa Department of Natural Resources for air quality monitoring and conservation restoration; from Iowa Department of Human Services for the Commodity Supplemental Foods Program and Family Development and Self-Sufficiency programming; from Workforce Development Center for WIOA Adult, Youth, and Dislocated Worker services; and from the Iowa State Department of Public Safety for criminal justice data analytics. Sub-award activity has grown significantly—three awards in 2022 to twenty in both 2024 and 2025—with only two awards reaching ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, indicating limited near-term recompete exposure.

The organization's federal funding footprint centers on local public health administration, victim services delivery, environmental remediation, and workforce development support within Polk County and adjacent Warren County, with no direct defense or IT contracting presence and no set-aside eligibility or competitively awarded contract vehicles.