June 10, 2025
Agenda Item No. 13
TO:
HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:
Tara Finnigan, Assistant City Manager - 949-644-3001, [email protected] PREPARED BY:
Brian Cordeiro, Recreation Manager - 949-644-3156 [email protected] Lorig Yaghsezian, Management Analyst - 949-644-3028 [email protected] TITLE:
Community Programs and Special Event Grants Recommendations for Fiscal Year 2025-26 ABSTRACT:
Pursuant to City Council Policy A-12, the City of Newport Beach annually awards Community Programs Grants to local organizations that serve or provide programming for Newport Beach residents, and Special Event Grants to provide financial assistance to Newport Beach based community events, deeming these grants to be beneficial to residents’ quality of life.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
a) Determine this action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because this action will not result in a physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; b) Pursuant to City Council Policy A-12, find that the organizations listed below provide community services or programs that serve residents and are beneficial to residents’ quality of life and authorize the allocation of $41,100 for Community Programs Grants in the following manner:
Community Programs Grant Applicant Recommendation
Balboa Island Museum Newport Beach $ 10,000
Corona del Mar Residents Assn $ 5,000
Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce $ 3,600
Newport Beach Historical Society $ 2,500
Orange Coast College Foundation Marina Programs $ 4,000 Sherman Foundation $ 10,000
Speak Up Newport $ 6,000
Total $ 41,100;
c) Waive the requirement in City Council Policy A-12 that $75,000 be expended each fiscal year for Community Programs Grants; d) Pursuant to City Council Policy A-12, find that the special events listed below are community, social or athletic events that are beneficial to residents’ quality of life, and authorize the allocation of $300,000 for Special Event Grants in the following manner:
Community & Charitable Events Recommendation
3rd Thursdays $ 3,610
4th of July Parade and Picnic $ 544
2025 Fourth of July Celebration $ 1,134
Andersen Deans Port of July $ 544
Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk $ 6,804
Annual Corona del Mar Scenic 5k $ 13,630
Annual Easter Egg Hunt $ 544
Annual Newport Classic Surf Contest $ 1,134
Balboa Island Parade $ 10,870
Balboa Island Summer Concert Series $ 1,134
Balboa Island Tree Lighting and Snow Day $ 544
Baroque Music Festival 46th Season Fall Preview $ 900
CdM Home Tour $ 1,173
Chili Cook-Off and Picnic at the Park $ 544
Corona del Mar Sandcastle Contest $ 544
Field of Honor $ 1,134
Newport Beach Car Fest $ 7,650
Walk for Patrick Turner $ 544
Wooden Boat Festival $ 1,134
World Wildlife Day Celebration $ 885
Total $ 55,000
Signature Events Recommendation
Hoag Classic $ 25,000
Newport Beach 4-Man Volleyball Invitational $ 10,000
Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade and Ring of Lights $ 50,000 Newport Beach Film Festival $ 140,000
Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race $ 10,000
Susan G. Komen More than Pink Walk Orange County $ 10,000 Total $ 245,000; and
e) Authorize the Recreation & Senior Services Director to sign one-year grant agreements with Signature Event organizers.
DISCUSSION:
City Council Policy A-12 Discretionary Grants (Attachment A) provides:
Community Programs Grant shall be expended from the General Fund in the amount of $75,000 each fiscal year. The City Manager’s Office shall review all requests for Community Programs Grants and shall forward recommendations for funding to the City Council for final approval. At the time of the City Manager’s presentation of any Community Programs Grants award proposals to the City Council, the City Manager shall show which entities, if any, have received funds from the Community Programs Grant, Special Event Grant, District Discretionary Grant, Culture and Arts Grant, or CDBG Social Services Fund during the same fiscal year.
The City Manager or designee shall follow these priorities when recommending Community Programs Grants:
Local groups located within the City and offering programs to City residents; Regional groups located in Orange County and offering programs to City residents; Groups located in California and offering programs to City residents; and Groups that have not received funding from any City source for three (3) consecutive years or more.
Groups not offering programs or services to local residents shall not be eligible for support from the City.
Special Event Grants are intended to allow meritorious community, social or athletic events to offset some or all of their City fees for their event. Doing so should decrease costs to the event organizer so that beneficiaries can see even greater benefit from any fundraising associated with the events. The City Manager or designee shall, in consultation with the City Council, establish a threshold amount for the proposed City budget that reflects adequate support for these events. The City Manager may divide the funding into more than one category to ensure that different types of events are fairly measured with peer events. The City Council shall consider and approve the Special Event Grant allocation by recipient.
The City reserves the right to audit the expenditures of these funds within a year of receipt.
In April 2025, information regarding the City Council’s intent to award Community Programs Grants and Special Event Grants for FY 2025-26 was posted on the City’s website and social media channels. In addition, an email was sent out to interested parties and previous recipients. The City received 11 eligible applications for Community Programs Grants, 20 eligible Community and Charitable Event applications, and 6 eligible Signature Event applications.
Community Programs Grants
A staff committee comprised of Library Services Director Melissa Hartson, Recreation Supervisors Anne Doughty and Cesar Armas, Homeless Services Manager Natalie Basmaciyan, and Senior Engineer John Kappeler reviewed and evaluated each of the applications. The applications were evaluated based upon how well each fit the priorities established in Council Policy A-12.
A brief summary of each grant application, including each organization’s client base, the intended use of the grants, the amount requested by the applicants, and the funding recommendations is included in Attachment B. Program grants requesting use of the Community Room are awarded in the form of a monetary credit toward the hourly room rate. The attachment also lists the applicants not recommended for funding and the reasoning behind staff’s recommendation.
Additionally, staff is requesting the waiver of the stipulation in City Council Policy A-12 regarding the expenditure of $75,000 towards the Community Programs Grant each fiscal year. The proposed new fiscal year budget allocates $60,000 to the Community Programs Grant program, and the current allocation proposal totals $41,100.
Special Events Grant
The City’s Special Events Grants are broken down into two categories:
Community and Charitable Events – Events that serve or benefit locally based organizations and causes and/or provide recreational, cultural, social benefits to Newport Beach residents as one-time yearly events. Newport Beach or Orange County based non-profit organizations and events that serve the Newport Beach community specifically, receive priority in funding. Grants are in the form of a monetary credit toward City fees. If an awardee incurs fees higher than the grant award, they owe the City the difference.
Signature Events – Large-scale events, based in Newport Beach that promote Newport Beach regionally, attract visitors and provide measurable, economic benefits to the City of Newport Beach. Signature event grant recipients are required to enter into a City Grant Agreement with the City’s terms and conditions. All agreements include right to audit language and must include measurable objectives and performance measures for evaluating the event’s marketing and economic impact.
A staff committee comprised of Recreation Manager Brian Cordeiro, Recreation Supervisor Molly Patience and Recreation Deputy Director Justin Schmillen reviewed and evaluated the applications received. The applications were evaluated based upon how well each fit the program’s eligibility, qualifications and evaluation criteria.
A summary of the grant applications, the amount allocated last fiscal year, and the staff funding recommendations for Fiscal Year 2025-26 are included in Attachment C.
Community and Charitable Event Grants are awarded at set, not-to-exceed levels that correlate to the estimated amount of City fees the applicant is expected to pay. To determine funding recommendations, staff used historical data from previous years’ events to determine what an event would pay in City fees. The committee incorporated the information from the application evaluation and assigned funding recommendations accordingly. The FY 2025-26 recommendations for Community and Charitable Event Grants are based solely on the waiver of City fees. All Community and Charitable Event Grant applicants that met the program’s criteria this year are being recommended for funding. As previously stated, any fees higher than the grant award will be the responsibility of the awardee.
Signature Event Grants are awarded at set, not-to-exceed levels based upon an evaluation of the event budget, an estimate of related City fees and the estimated economic benefits to the City having the event based in Newport Beach. Staff considered these elements and assigned funding recommendations that will provide cash grants to offset event expenditures, which may include City fees. All Signature Event Grant applicants that met the program’s criteria this year are being recommended for funding.
Staff met with three councilmembers to discuss its recommendations for the Community Programs and Special Events Grants. The grant applications received under both programs are available for the City Council’s and public’s review per request at the City Clerk’s office at the Newport Beach Civic Center, 100 Civic Center Drive, Bay 2E.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposed FY 2025-26 budget includes sufficient funding for the Community Programs Grants. It will be expensed to the City Grants account under the City Council, 01005005-821006. Grant recommendations for the Community Programs Grants totals $41,100 to be expensed to the City Council account.
The proposed budget also includes sufficient funding for the Special Events Grants. It will be expensed to the Special Event Support account under the City Council, 01005005-821016 and the Signature Event account under the City Manager’s Office, 01020202-821017. Grant recommendations for Community and Charitable Events Grants total $55,000 to be expensed to the City Council account. Grant recommendations for the Signature Events Grants total $245,000 to be expensed to the City Manager’s Office account.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
NOTICING:
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item).
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A – City Council Policy A-12
Attachment B – FY 2025-26 Community Grants Recommended Funding Attachment C – FY 2025-26 Special Events Grants Recommended Funding Attachment D – Grant Guidelines
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Community Programs and Special Event Grants Recommendations for FY 2025-26 June 10, 2025
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