equally three ways to Union Station Homeless Services, Foothill Unity Center, and Friends in Deed. All three nonprofit organizations provide homeless services as part of their program of services. For the Fiscal Years 19/20 and 20/21 budgeting cycles, the City Council increased community support funds from $3,000 to $4,000.
Standards for Donations
The Institute for Local Government provides local governments with advice when public institutions are considering donating public funds to charitable organizations. They recommend following their best practice circumstances which may determine appropriateness for a contribution:
1. A charity provides a service that complements or enhances a service that the public agency also provides;
2. When there is an identifiable secondary benefit to the public agency; or
3. When the charity provides a service the public agency could provide but chooses not to.
Additionally, it is recommended that these finds are included in the minutes about the benefits to the agency associated with providing resources to a charity.
Making donations to charitable causes that are far away from the City (for example, to help the victims of a hurricane in a distant state) also present special challenges.
Because of the distance, it can be more difficult to justify the contribution as creating benefits to the jurisdiction's residents.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Funds in the amount of $4,000 have been budgeted this fiscal year but have not yet been spent. Expending the full budgeted amount will not have a significant fiscal impact.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council direct staff on how to expend the budgeted $4,000, which has been set aside for a charitable donation.