Agenda Item B.14
CPMS CONSENT CALENDAR
Meeting Date: November 15, 2022
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: Jaime A. Valdez, Neighborhood Service Director
CONTACT: Shanna Dawson, Management Analyst
SUBJECT: Goleta City Grant Review Process
RECOMMENDATION:
A. Assign responsibility for revi ewing some Goleta City Grant a pplications to the Parks and Recreation Commission and to the Homelessness Issues Standi ng Committee for Fiscal Year 2023-2024;
B. Assign responsibility for revi ewing two Goleta City Grant ap plications to the Homelessness Issues Standing Committee for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 only; and
C. Approve the spending caps for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Goleta City Grant categories:
$25,000 for Parks and Recreation; $25,000 for Services for the Homeless; and the remaining $200,000 to other categories.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council allocates $100,000 annually from the General F und to the Goleta City Grant Program. The Goleta City Grant Program awards funding on a competitive basis to nonprofits providing public service s, projects, and cultural ac tivities benefitting Goleta residents, special events in Goleta, and educational programs serving Goleta youth. On January 5, 2022, City Council allocated an additional $300,000 to the Goleta City Grant Program from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money, to be split evenly between the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 Program years. This brings the total amount available for the Goleta City Grant Program to $250,000 for FY 2023-2024.
The Goleta City Grant applications for the current Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023 numbered 69, substantially higher than previous years, due in part to the increased amount of ARPA funding available
1. The Grant Funding Review Standing Committee (Committee) reviews the City Grant applications, in addition to applications for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and Support to Other Agency funding. Members of the Committee
1 After the initial application deadline, and before the Notice of Funding Availability which announced the additional $150,000 in ARPA funds was published, there had been 42 applications. 1 Meeting Date: November 15, 2022
expressed concerns about the sheer volume of applications this year and discussed how the responsibility of review in the next grant cycle could be s hared with other City committees and commissions based on areas of expertise.
Historically, in December of the previous Fiscal Year, upon Cit y Council approval, staff issues a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) which is announc ed via a City press release, published in local publications (in both English and Spanish), and shared on the City’s website and social media channels. The application perio d typically closes at the end of January, providing approximately six weeks for applicant s to submit their applications.
At that point, staff reviews al l submitted applications and sor ts them into ten different categories prior to review by the Committee, which are as follo ws, and in no particular order:
1. Educational Programs;
2. The Arts;
3. Food/Nutrition;
4. Services for the Homeless;
5. Services for Seniors;
6. Parks and Recreation;
7. Youth Services;
8. Economic Development;
9. Community Engagement; and
10. Miscellaneous Services/Programs.
This helps set the stage for the Committee to evaluate the applications, which also entails considering the requested amounts, the purpose of the requested funds, and the limited amount of funds availabl e. Ultimately, the Committee provides their recommended amounts for each applicant and that information is presented to City Council for approval by the end of May, prior to the adoption of the budget for the following Fiscal Year.
DISCUSSION:
At the October 24, 2022, Committ ee meeting, a Committee member recommended that the Homelessness Issues Standing Committee (HISC) and the Parks a n d R e c r e a t i o n Commission both review City Grant applications which fall under their purview, as they can align their recommendations with their respective adopted strategic plans. The Committee member also recommended that the Economic Development and Revitalization Standing Committee eventually review some applic ations once their strategic plan is adopted. The Committee would retain review pu rview of all other City Grant applications, as well as the CDBG and Support to Other Agency applications. The Committee agreed to this, with t he following stipulations, to avoid potential Brown Act issues:
Spending caps must be set for the categories being referred to o t h e r 2 Meeting Date: November 15, 2022
committees before the applications are reviewed by any committee or commission; and
Applications which are reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Co mmission and the HISC would go straight to Council for approval, and not be reviewed again by the Grant Funding Review Standing Committee.
Additionally, during the Committee meeting, it was decided that a workshop with the entire City Council should take place in Summer of 2023. This workshop would review the new process (if adopted by Council) and look at how funding in future years might go forward, particularly in light of the outcome of the sales tax measure (Measure B) on the November 8, 2022, ballot. It was stated by Committee members that this workshop would give Council a chance to review its funding priorities for the City Grant program and offer the opportunity to allow input from members of the public or Councilmembers who currently or previously served on the Committee.
Since the Committee meeting, in an effort to avoid any Brown Ac t issues, staff has developed a recommendation for the amount to be allocated to the Parks and Recreation Commission and the HISC for FY 2023-2024. The recommendation is based on dividing the $250,000 equally among the ten categories, with each allocated $25,000. This would result in $25,000 being referred to the Parks and Recreation Commission, $25,000 being referred to the HISC, and the remaining $200,000 available to b e allocated by the Committee among the other eight grant categories.
Additional Consideration for FY 2022-2023
The Committee, when deliberat ing the 2022-2023 City Grant appli cations, tabled consideration of two applicatio ns related to homelessness and r equested those be reviewed by the HISC. Those two applications are still pending, a s t h e H I S C i n i t i a l l y wanted input from the Homeless Services Coordinator position once that recruitment was completed. Additionally, staff wanted to ensure Council concurrence with the Committee’s recommended approach so that it could also apply that approach to FY 2022-2023 for those applications related to homelessness. If these grants are recommended for funding by the HISC, the Fiscal Year 2 022-2023 amounts would come out o f funds that were separately allocated for homelessness, and not from the City Grants program funds.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
3 Meeting Date: November 15, 2022
ALTERNATIVES:
Council could decide to keep review of all City Grant applications with the Grant Funding Review Standing Committee, maintaining status quo. Council coul d also decide on different spending caps for the Go leta City Grant categories re ferred to the Parks and Recreation Commission and the HISC, or provide alternate direction.
Reviewed By: Legal Review By: Approved By:
___________________ ______ _____________ ______ ___________ Kristine Schmidt Megan Garibaldi Robert Nisbet
Assistant City Manager City Attorney City Manager
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