EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: May 16, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Melvin E. Gaines, City Manager
BY: Maurice Baker, Acting Community Services Manager
Melvin E. Gaines, City Manager
SUBJECT: 2023 Transient Occupancy Tax Grants Update
Recommendation
By motion, approve the list of individuals selected to serve on the Community Grants Review Panel.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
Priority No. 7: Enhance Community Services and Parks for Residents Background
Chapter 3.68 of the Municipal Code, the uniform transient occupancy tax (TOT ordinance), establishes the imposition of a 12 percent tax on hotel rents for transient stays. Hotels are broadly defined and include hotels, motels, lodging houses, apartment houses, dormitory and other similar structures occupied by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes.
Transient stays are defined as stays for 30 or fewer consecutive days. In 2002, East Palo Alto voters modified the TOT ordinance requiring dedication of 10 percent of TOT revenue to affordable housing and 10 percent to children, youth and family services, including senior citizens (CYFS).
According to the Municipal Code Section 3.68.150, CYFS revenues can only be used to:
Support comprehensive, integrated, and community-based systems of services and support systems for children, youth, and their families and senior citizens to promote individual and community health, recreation, and cultural arts, and;
Exclusively to fund grants or loans to nonprofit service providers headquartered in East Palo Alto OR for which a majority of clients served are East Palo Alto residents.
The City initiated the 2023 CYFS funding cycle in January, launching the TOT Small Grants Process as follows:
January 6, 2023: Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) issued for Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Summer Park Activation proposals.
January 26, 2023: Mandatory Informational Session(s) held virtually with 28 individuals. The City requires organizations that seek CYFS funding to attend a mandatory information session to be eligible for funds. In recent years, staff has seen a decline in the number of organizations that attend the information sessions. Previous funding rounds have seen 30-40 attendees at these sessions, this year, only 28 people attended.
February 24, 2023: All applications were submitted with supporting documentation to City of East Palo Alto staff.
March 20, 2023: Staff reviewed 11 proposals.
May 2023: If approved, the Community Grants Review Panel will initiate review of the applications and make funding recommendations.
June or July 2023: The City Council will make final funding decisions.
Community Grants Review Panel
In Spring 2014, the City Council adopted a policy to use a Community Grants Review Panel (CGRP) comprised of East Palo Alto residents, business owners, and industry experts to review and rank applicants. Below (Chart 2) is a list of CGRP members who were most recently involved in the process.
Chart #1- 2019 Community Grants Review Panel Representatives TOT CGRP Organizations Category
Mika Barrett Four Seasons Hotel Large Business
Debra Mendoza D. Mendoza Consulting Small Business
Marcia Perez Perez Immigration Law Resident
Jose Santos The Grove Foundation Expert
James T. Turner Above All Insurance Resident
This year, the recommended Community Grants Review Panel is:
Chart #2 - 2023 Recommended Community Grants Review Panel TOT CGRP Organizations Category
Michelle Goudeaux Columbia Property Trust Large Business Debra Turner Above All Insurance Small Business
Marcia Perez Perez Immigration Law Resident
Sarahi Espinoza-Salamanca Sobrato Organization Expert
Q. Smith EPA Resident Resident
Analysis
The proposed Community Grants Review Panel is comprised of local residents, small business owners, large business owners, philanthropic experts, and some individuals who fit multiple categories. Staff believes that this panel is qualified to assess proposal and make suitable funding recommendations to the City Council.
Proposals Received
This January, at Council’s request, staff issued a combined Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Community Services funding opportunities which included Summer Park Activation and TOT. The mandatory information sessions for TOT were attended by 28 individuals representing 24 unique organizations across East Palo Alto that matched the criteria. From this number, 11 organizations submitted applications. Two of these organizations, Step It Up Dance and Live in Peace, have already been approved to receive funding for 2023 Summer Park Activation.
The organizations that applied for TOT funding represent a diverse range of activities and programs that could benefit a wider audience of East Palo Alto residents. Below is the list of organizations and a brief description of their proposed activities.
Chart #3 - 2023 TOT Funding Requests
Organization Requested
Amount
Proposed Programming
Lewis & Joan Platt YMCA $16,000.00 Host a full STEAM Ahead program that is tuition-free (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts and Math
Step It Up Dance $16,000.00 Host a fully in person Dance class for youth ages 3-16 in partnership with EPACenter
Arts
St. Mark $16,000.00 Conduct Friday Night Vibez Poetry event Retraining the Village $16,000.00 Two Food, Family, Fun Community engagements that will support formerly
incarcerated
Oynxx Village $16,000.00 Distributing meals to homeless and lowincome children, youth, families, and seniors
Mannakin Theater & Dance $16,000.00 Ballet and Mexican Folklorico dance instruction for youth
Live in Peace $16,000.00 After school and Academic Support plus Crisis Intervention that runs year-round
Hope Horizon $16,000.00 Host a Summer Camp from June 20-July 28 for youth
Fresh Approach $16,000.00 Alleviate food insecurity and increase awareness of and access to nutrition
education
EPACenter for the Arts $16,000.00 Summer Arts Enrichment program for a total of 120 hours at six weeks
East Palo Alto Greyhounds $16,000.00 Host a full STEAM Ahead program that is tuition-free (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts and Math
Staff recommends that the proposed Community Grants Review Panel consider all 11 proposals. The CGRP should also make a recommendation to the Council whether the two organizations that already are set to receive Summer Park Activation funds should be eligible for additional funds. Staff will return to the Council with the CGRP’s funding recommendations in June or July 2023, and the Council will make the final funding decision.
Fiscal Impact
There are no fiscal impacts to approve this panel at this time. Staff will return to Council with requests to fund organizations that are recommended from the CYFS TOT funding source. It is important to note that the CYSF TOT fund currently holds approximately $1.1 million in fund balance.
Public Notice
The public was provided notice of this agenda item by posting the City Council agenda on the City’s official bulletin board outside City Hall and making the agenda and report available at the City’s website and at the San Mateo Co. Library located at 2415 University Avenue in East Palo Alto, CA.
Environmental
The proposed action does not constitute a “project” with the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15378(b)(4) and (5) in that it is a governmental fiscal, organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
Attachments
1. 2023 Informational Session Attendees
2. 2023 TOT Proposals
3. NOFA for Community Services Funding (Final)
4. MeasCTOTAwardeeListAsOf2.2019