City Manager’s Office
DATE: April 17, 2025
TO: Council Neighborhoods Committee
FROM: Parneet Dhindsa, Human Services Manager
Laurel James, Principal Management Analyst
Kimberly S. Thomas, Deputy City Manager
SUBJECT: Fiscal Year 2025-26 Neighborhood Grant Program Funding Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION
Approve $45,730 in funding for the Fiscal Year 2025 -26 Neighborhood Grant Program (Attachment 1 to this memorandum).
BACKGROUND
The Neighborhood Grant Program was established by the Council Neighborhood s Committee (CNC or Committee) in 1999 to provide financial support to neighborhood groups for carrying out activities and events that encourag e participation, strengthen neighborhoods, and improve neighborhood conditions. This memorandum provides background and analysis of the applications received for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Neighborhood Grant Program cycle and includes staff’s funding recommendations for the Committee’s consideration.
Eligibility
There is no formal process for establishing a neighborhood group. Rather, the City recognizes groups once they apply for and are granted Neighborhood Grant Program funds. Groups must be geographically based and may have overlapping geographi c boundaries. Special-interest groups, individuals, businesses, fraternal or religious groups, universities, public agencies, Citywide groups , or groups of a general nature are not eligible for the Neighborhood Grant Program. Eligible activities/events must be neighborhood-based and initiated by residents living in the neighborhood or mobile home park , with at least four activity leads identified. Examples of eligible activities/events include, but are not limited to, neighborhood block parties, holiday celebrations, and other social events as well as neighborhood -improvement activities . Grant funds may also be used for neighborhood newsletters, website domains, and Zoom subscriptions to facilitate neighborhood communication.
Fiscal Year 2025-26 Neighborhood Grant Program Funding Recommendations April 17, 2025
Funding Availability
The Fiscal Year 2025-26 Neighborhood Grant Program has a total available budget of $57,500.
This includes $50,000 to fund the current level of program enrollment and $7,500 in pilot funding to create capacity for the Committee to fund new groups that may apply, without a need to reduce the funding for existing groups or to place existing groups and new groups into competition with each other. Grants may be awarded up to the maximum grant amount outlined in Table 1 below , which is based on the number of households covered by the neighborhood group.
Table 1: Fiscal Year 2025-26 Maximum Grant Awards by Tier
Tier Number of Households Maximum Award
A <500 $1,333
B 501-1,000 $2,000
C 1,001-1,500 $2,667
D >1,501 $3,333
Application Process
The grant guidelines for 2025 were approved at the CNC’s February 27 meeting. The grant application period was from March 1 , 2025 through March 31, 2025. The Neighborhood Grant Program guidelines (Attachment 2) and a link to the application were posted on the City’s Neighborhood Grant Program webpage at mountainview.gov/neighborhoodgrants. A summary of actions to advert ise the Neighborhood Grants Program, including two virtual informational webinars, is provided below:
• Emails to current Fiscal Year 2024-25 Neighborhood Grant Program recipients;
• Email to 2,029 subscribers for the “Neighborhood Interest” lists;
• Month-long advertisement in the Mountain View Voice;
• Posts on the City’s social media platforms, including Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter); and
• Articles in the March 12 and March 26, 2025 editions of the City Hall Connection e-newsletter.
On March 5 and March 6, 2025, staff held informational webinars via Zoom for interested applicants, which included an ove rview of the program, eligibility, criteria, a timeline, and a tutorial of how to access and fill in the application. A total of 25 participants representing Fiscal Year 2025-26 Neighborhood Grant Program Funding Recommendations April 17, 2025
14 groups attended the webinars . The webinars were held in the evening , and interpretation services were available in Spanish and Mandarin. The application and guidelines were also available in Spanish and Mandarin.
ANALYSIS
Summary of Applications
A total of 25 applications were received for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Neighborhood Grant Program in a total amount of $50,563. The grant applications are available in Attachment 3. A summary of the applicants is included below:
• Twenty-one (21) applicants are prior Neighborhood Grant Program recipients.
• Four (4) applicants are first-time applicants and/or newly formed neighborhood groups.
• Of the 25 applications, four applicants’ requests exceeded the available maximum grant award. When the maximum grant award is applied to these requests, the total requested amount for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Neighborhood Grant Program is $47,063.
A high-level summary of the proposed activities is included below:
• Annual events such as ice cream socials, easter egg hunts, and summer block parties.
• Community-building special events such as opportunities to engage with the City’s Fire and Police Departments, Asian cultural events (Chinese New Year, Mid -Autumn Festival), a Veterans’ Day event, and support for parent-child play groups.
• Funding for neighborhood newsletter printing, website maintenance, and Zoom meeting subscriptions.
While the vast majority of the proposed activities meet the requirements of the Neighborhood Grant Program , some applicants noted inviting unidentified speakers to events or including political ads in newsletters as part of their proposed activity. As part of the grant award noticing, staff will include a reminder that funding for political activities is not an eligible use of the Neighborhood Grant Program funds, and reimbursement requests for these activities will not be accepted. To the extent that a n event or activity includes an ineligible component, this component must be funded by a source other than the Neighborhood Grant Program.
Additionally, some of the applicants represent a subset of an existing neighborhood group with the nature of the proposed activity or event being unique or different while also being open to the entire neighborhood. There are also a few applicants that are not listed as a specific Fiscal Year 2025-26 Neighborhood Grant Program Funding Recommendations April 17, 2025
recognized neighborhood; however, they have provided specific geographic boundaries in the application which have been reviewed and confirmed by staff.
Funding Recommendations
Staff recommends funding 24 of the 25 applicants for a total amount of $45,730, as detailed in Attachment 1. A high-level summary of the funding recommendations is provided below.
• The Yorkton Drive Neighborhood Group is not recommended for funding as the application does not meet the requirement to identify at least four activity leads. Staff has notified the group of this and encouraged them to reapply for the next Neighborhood Grant Program cycle. This requirement was communicated during the application process.
• The Cuesta Park Neighborhood Let Grow Play Club is recommended for one -time funding only as the total requested amount of $550 is for reusable materials, such as outdoor toys and equipment. Staff determined that this meets the eligible use of grant fund s by supporting neighborhood members to gather and build connections.
• Slater Neighborhood Association is recommended for funding at a lesser amount than requested. Staff conducted a recent review of household data in the geographic area of focus, which indicates the number of households has slightly decreased from the prior year, resulting in a lower tier for this year. Therefore, staff recommends the full funding amount for Tier C instead of the requested Tier D, which is $533 less than requested.
• All other groups are funded at the amount requested in their applications.
NEXT STEPS
Upon CNC approval, staff will begin the contract process for grant recipients to enter into an agreement with the City for the Fiscal Year 2025 -26 Neighborhood Grant Program .
Reimbursement requests will only be processed once an agreement has been executed. Receipts must be for purchases made on or after July 1, 2025 and on or before June 30, 2026 . All grant funds must be used between July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026; there is no carryover of funds.
PD-LJ-KST/MS/6/MGR/625-04-17-25M
Attachments: 1. Fiscal Year 2025 -26 Neighborhood Grant Program Funding Recommendations (Summary)
2. Neighborhood Grant Program Guidelines (Approved February 27, 2025)
3. Fiscal Year 2025 -26 Neighborhood Grant Program Applications (Personal Information Redacted)