Financial Performance and Budget Committee Memorandum
TO: FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND BUDGET DATE: APRIL 8, 2022
COMMITTEE
FROM: OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER WARDS: ALL SUBJECT: GRANTS AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT UPDATES
ISSUE:
To receive a report regarding grants and resource development updates from the Office of the City Manager.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Financial Performance and Budget Committee receive and file a report regarding grants resource development updates from the Office of the City Manager.
BACKGROUND:
The Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan mandates that the City continually work to provide a, “High Performing Government,” for its residents. Goal 5.4 of the High Performing Government element is a mandate to, “achieve and maintain financial health by addressing gaps between expenditures and revenues….” In December, the City Manager’s Office hired a Grants Administrator and Resource Development Analyst dedicated to supporting and expanding grant activities for the City specifically, and to generally grow revenue. The City Manager’s Office has begun to revisit old policies, begin new initiatives to support grantsmanship Citywide, and to create a resource base of new ideas to grow revenue.
DISCUSSION:
The purpose of the staff report is to briefly outline initiatives from the City Manager’s Office to grow revenue through expanded grant activities. As of this writing, the following new initiatives were moving forward:
Revised Grant Administration Policy – City Manager’s Office staff is working with the Finance Department to update Grants Administration Policy 01.006.00, which last saw a review in 2018. A draft of this policy will be taken to the Financial Performance and Budget Committee in the next 39-45 days. New facets of the Policy include a wider range of grant applications that can be completed with department head approval, and the definition of an administrative overhead rate to capture indirect costs of staff time associated with administering grants. The new Policy also codifies a requirement to enter all grants into the City’s Grants Management Database.
Grant Writing Assistance Pool – The City Manager’s Office is working with the Finance Department - Purchasing Division to develop a pool of short-term and technical grant writers who would be available to assist departments when time and/or in-house expertise is not available to complete complex funding applications. This pool would be accessed through the City Manager’s Office and would be made available Citywide if departmental budgets can bear the cost of services. The goal is to build an as-needed resource to enable more complex funding applications to be completed.
Supplemental Assistance Pool – The City Manager’s Office is also working on a budgetary request for a financial pool of assistance for departments who have compelling and timely grants that also require external financial assistance to access the Grant Writing Assistance Pool for completion of funding applications.
Citywide Grant Coordination – Staff is coordinating monthly calls with grant writing staff Citywide to coordinate efforts, assess gaps in support, as forward planning in efforts to aid and expand grant writing activities, and an ongoing conversation regarding revenue generation.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – The City has been preparing to position projects for the new federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). IIJA is a bipartisan legislation to invest in the nation's infrastructure, including funding for roads and bridges, rail, transit, ports, airports, electric grid, water systems, broadband, among other priorities. The legislation provides $1.2 trillion in total spending over five years, including $550 billion in new spending. The City Manager’s Office worked to present an initial list of IIJA eligible infrastructure projects totaling approximately $1.7 billion in needs to the City’s Mobility and Infrastructure Committee at its February meeting and is working cross-departmentally to refine the list to code for project readiness. An updated list will be presented again to the Mobility and Infrastructure Committee in August.
State Budget – Staff have been working with the City’s legislative affairs consultants in Sacramento to make Riverside’s voice heard in the new State budget. California will once again enjoy a fiscal year budgetary surplus (estimated at $45 billion+) and the City is advancing a list of priority proposals for inclusion to receive funding earmarks from the upcoming State budget.
City Naming Policy – The City Council approved a Naming Rights Policy on July 8, 2020. City Manager staff are conducting an initial analysis of the Naming Rights Policy to see if changes are required in the emerging post-Covid advertising environment. Research is being done by contacting other Cities with active naming rights policies to ascertain if Riverside’s Policy needs to be updated. The previous list of potential City assets is also being revisited.
The Grants Administrator and Resource Development Analyst will continue to look for ways to streamline the funding application process and encourage departments to maximize external funding activity, subject to staffing and grant eligibility.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item supports Strategic Priority 5 – High Performing Government and Goal 5.4 to maintain fiscal health by addressing gaps between revenues and expenditures.
It also aligns with each of the Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – Building grant capacity will serve the public interest by potentially expanding programs and completing projects with external funding; benefiting the City’s diverse populations, and result in greater public good.
Equity – Outside funding can be used to allow more City departments to be creative and competitive for grants, resulting in a more equitable distribution of funding opportunity that can reach populations citywide.
Fiscal Responsibility – The City ensures to maximize outcomes in usage of grant funds as a way to lessen pressure on the General fund.
Innovation – This funding provides the City with the ability to create an innovative program for building capacity with the result in receiving greater external funding.
Sustainability & Resiliency – Riverside builds capacity to allow more departments to apply for grants, and compete for funding that allows the City to adaptively address resident needs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report. Specific grant applications and/or projects that require funding appropriations will be brought to the City Council separately for consideration.
Prepared by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Certified as to
availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer Approved by: Al Zelinka, City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Grants Resource Development Update ● Page 3