CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
3/11/2024
1 SUBJECT:
Annual Process for City Council Consideration of Non-Governmental Organization Grant Funding
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Provide direction to the City Manager on draft guidelines for an annual process for City Council consideration of City grant funding to non-governmental organizations.
STAFF CONTACT:
Yulia Carter, Assistant City Manager
(650) 738-7402
[email protected]
BACKGROUND:
Each year the City of Pacifica makes contributions to various non-governmental community organizations, some of which are anticipated and included in the budget for the General Fund each fiscal year, and others that are considered as requests received during the year outside of the annual budget process. The organizations to which the City has provided funding over the past four years include:
• Pacifica Resource Center
• Pacific Beach Coalition
• Pacific Coast TV
• HEART of San Mateo County
• Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA)
• Starvista
• Fog Fest
• San Mateo County Airport Community Roundtable
• San Mateo County Resource Conservation District
• Pacifica Sports Club
• Sustainable San Mateo County
A more detailed list, along with the amount of funding provided, will be presented by staff during the Council meeting presentation of this item. Contributions in total to these organizations have been in the range of $250,000 to $350,000 on average per year.
A recent report from the City’s business license database showed there are a total of ninetythree (93) NGOs with operations in Pacifica (Attachment A), numerous of which the City has contributed to with in-kind donations. For example, the City offers reduced lease rates for the Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica Spindrift Players, and Pacifica Performances, and has provided staff time and materials to various other organizations, such as mulch to the Pacific Beach Coalition, and use of equipment and facilities for the American Cancer Society’s annual “Relay Pacifica City Council 2
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for Life” event, among others.
DISCUSSION:
Enhancing Organizational and Fiscal Stability is one of the City Council’s Strategic Goals, which includes reviewing, updating, developing, and implementing City policies and processes related to Finance to comply with legal requirements and best practices. At the October 9, 2023 City Council meeting, City Council approved a one-time donation to CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse), precipitating a discussion regarding the City’s current practices for distribution of funds to NGOs and the possible benefit of enacting a policy for a consistent annual process for Council consideration of grant funding. City Council directed staff to develop a policy or alternatives for the distribution of funds to NGOs and bring it back to Council for discussion in Spring 2024. After assessing the City's current grant allocation procedures for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are predominantly ad hoc, except for the annual funding provided to the Pacifica Resource Center and the Pacific Beach Coalition, the City Manager requests that the City Council discuss proposed guidelines and procedures outlined below and in Attachment B, and provide direction. Following Council’s input, the City Manager will return with a policy for Council adoption, ideally at the March 25, 2024, City Council meeting.
These recommendations aim to establish a comprehensive NGO funding policy that guarantees fairness, transparency, and efficiency. By aligning with best practices, this policy can effectively support the City Council's Strategic Goals.
Recommended Guidelines and Procedure:
Due to Pacifica’s historical, and on-going, financial sustainability challenges, the City typically does not have very much extra funding to provide to NGOs and has had to be very selective about any such decisions. As such, any annual process approved by the Council will need to begin with clear communication that the total amount of funding allocated to all NGOs will be determined during the annual budget development process in the context of all the financial challenges faced by the City. The total amount may vary from year to year depending on the circumstances, so the number of NGOs that can receive grants, or the amount that can be granted, will vary accordingly.
Process Summary: In April of each year, for a period of one month, the City Council will receive requests from community NGOs for grant monies to support projects, programs, or services that are of benefit to the City of Pacifica and its residents, to be submitted via a standardized application. These applications will be considered by City Council during the budgeting study sessions for the next fiscal year and evaluated based on an objective scoring system before being awarded a grant. To be considered, NGOs must meet the grant eligibility requirements and, if awarded, comply with grant reporting requirements. An overview of the guidelines and procedure are provided below, and included in detail in Attachment B.
Eligibility Requirements: Eligibility criteria aim to ensure that grant awards are allocated to community service agencies with the capacity, integrity, and vision to address pressing needs and contribute to the well-being of Pacifica residents and include Alignment with City Goals, Financial Responsibility, Compliance with Legal and Regulatory Requirements, Capacity to Execute, and Community Benefit.
Application Process: Applications received during the application window will be published with the City Council Agenda for the meeting at which they will be ranked by City Councilmembers.
At the meeting, Councilmembers will individually evaluate each application against the 5 eligibility criteria using a score sheet provided at the meeting. • Scores ranging from 1 to 5 will be assigned without verbal commentary, based on Pacifica City Council 3
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alignment with the City Council's Strategic Goals, with 1 being the lowest ranking score, and 5 being the highest.
• The City Clerk will collect these score sheets and compute the total score from each Councilmember for every applicant. These cumulative scores will determine each applicant's overall score, which will be announced during the meeting and entered into the official record.
• Each applicant’s overall score will be published with the agenda for the budget study session at which City Council will make its funding determination, allowing a period of time, no less than 72 hours, for the public to review and provide input before City Council makes their decision.
Reporting Requirements: Awarded organizations will be required to submit a report that provides an overview of how the funds were utilized, the impact achieved, and the lessons learned throughout the project/program/service implementation. This report serves as a vital tool for accountability, transparency, and learning, ensuring that grant funds are used effectively to benefit the City of Pacifica and its residents.
Enacting a process such as this will help the Pacifica City Council establish a fair, transparent, and streamlined process for awarding grants to NGOs. By adhering to these best practices, the City Council is empowered to allocate resources judiciously to projects, programs, or services aligning with its Strategic Plan and that benefit the residents of Pacifica.
Additionally, a public application process will expand the opportunity for funding to a full spectrum of community organizations who have not historically been able to do so, such as the 80+ currently registered that have heretofore not received grants, expanding the potential benefits to Pacifica’s residents.
The City Manager requests the Council’s input on these guidelines and criteria, before further refining a policy to bring back for future Council adoption.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
City Council may choose not to approve a process for the approval and authorization of grant awards at this time or may decide to approve with modifications.
RELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND WORK PLAN:
This item furthers the City’s efforts toward Organizational and Fiscal Stability.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact related to the recommendation.
ORIGINATED BY:
City Manager's Office
ATTACHMENT LIST:
Attachment A: NGOs Doing Business in Pacifica as of 01 2024 (PDF) Attachment B: Guidelines and Process for NGO Funding Procedure (PDF)