Staff Report
City Council
Item No. {{section.number}}.A
Meeting Date: March 12, 2025
From: Kevin Biersack, Financial Services Director
Title: FY 25/26 Community Assistance Grant Process and Ad Hoc Committee Selection
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve proceeding with the FY 2025/2026 Community Assistance Grant Programs.
BACKGROUND:
In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/2026 adopted budget, City Council approved a General Fund Community Assistance Grant Program of $70,000 to support requests for grants and sponsorships from community non-profit organizations and other governmental jurisdictions. Additionally, the City will offer a General Fund Public Arts Commission Grant Program funded at $20,000 to support art programming and educational endeavors within the community. These two grant programs will run simultaneously in terms of application deadlines and staff will separately bring forth recommendations for final approval of the grant awards at a June 2025 Council meeting.
For the FY 2024/25 Community Assistance Grant Program, staff received 10 applications. The City Council awarded 9 grants totaling $70,000 ranging from $2,500 to $15,000. FY2024/2025 awardees must communicate the implementation of the previously awarded funds in order to apply for a FY2025/2026 grant award. Staff recommends grant applications continue to be submitted for funding requests between $1,000 and $10,000.
DISCUSSION:
City Council has appointed Councilmembers Gutierrez and Lamb to the Ad Hoc subcommittee to review the applications make recommendations to the full Council for formal action. Staff plans to advertise the program on Friday, March 14, 2025, and request grant applications be submitted by 5:00 pm PDT on Friday, April 18, 2025. Staff will then provide the applications for subcommittee review. The subcommittee will convene a meeting in May to review and make recommendations on which grants to fund. Once the subcommittee recommendations are finalized, the proposed grant awards will be presented to City Council for review and approval at the Wednesday, June 11, 2025, meeting. Separately, the proposed grant awards for the Public Arts Commission will also be presented to Council at this meeting for approval. Awardees will be notified no later than Tuesday, July 1, 2025.
Program Guidelines: To be considered for funding:
•Applicants must be a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization or a tribal or governmental agency.
•Applicants must be based in Cathedral City or demonstrate they provide services to residents or businesses of Cathedral City.
•Applicants must be able to demonstrate they receive funding from other sources and are not relying only on City support.
•Preference will be given to applicants meeting health and human service needs of underserved populations.
The grant program and grant application will be sent to local media and advertised on the City’s website, social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram and Nextdoor), and will be included on the Discover Cathedral City website -- See the attached Public Service Grant Application and the Notice of Publication for Grant Applications.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact at this time.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action will further Goal C – Fiscal Stability and Sustainability Objective - Cathedral City has economically prospered by facilitating the investment of private dollars in high quality development which benefits the community. We remain financially solvent by instituting prudent fiscal policies and transparent financial practices.
ATTACHMENTS:
Notice of Publication for Grant Applications - FY2026
Community Assistance Grant Program Application