TO:City Council
FROM:Community Funding Review Committee
DATE:May 7, 2024
SUBJECT: FY 2024-25 Community Events Grant Recommendations RECOMMENDATION:
1. Approve FY 2024-25 Community Events Grants totaling $89,712.68.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute Community Events Grant agreements with grantees.
3. Authorize expenditure in the amount of $89,712.68 in FY 2024-25 from A/C #001-1120-611-5920 (CF2025, CEG Grants/Donations) for Community Events Grants.
4. Find that this action is not a project as defined under the California Environmental Quality Act.
LEVINE ACT ITEM: Yes
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Minimal administrative staff costs associated with executing contracts and compliance monitoring are included in the Adopted FY 2023-24 General Fund Budget. $100,000 is included in the grants and donations (CF2025) budget in the Adopted FY 2024-25 General Fund Budget.
BACKGROUND:
The Community Events Grant (CEG) provides financial support for community arts and cultural activities and events that take place within the boundaries of the City, and for school performance groups representing the City at competition events located outside of the City. The program seeks to benefit a wide cross-section of the community. The CEG is available to local, non-profit, community, and school groups. During the City’s FY 2024-25 budget process, City Council renewed its support for the program by appropriating $100,000 annually to be used for CEG with the proposed allocations:
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4 $90,000: Available through annual grant funding cycle application process. $10,000: Held in reserve for City Council to approve unanticipated, off-cycle funding requests that may arise throughout the fiscal year.
The CEG, previously known as the Community Events Endowment Fund and changed by City Council at the September 14, 2021, City Council meeting, provides grantees a maximum grant award of $9,000 and a minimum award of $500. Grants to organizations seeking funds to support team events are limited to a maximum of $100 per individual team member. Grant applications must demonstrate that the requested CEG funds will be matched through other sources.
CEG grant applications for FY 2024-25 were accepted from January 29, 2024, through February 29, 2024. Public outreach for the grant program took place in January and February and included news postings on the City’s website, social media channels, and the January and February issues of the CityScene Newsletter. A Community Grant Program workshop was held on September 21, 2023, for interested applicants and the workshop recording is available on the City’s website. In addition, emails were sent to previous CEG recipients, and a press release was sent to local media outlets. Complete program information can be found on the dedicated City Manager’s Office Grant Opportunities webpage (www.toaks.org/grants) on the City website.
A history of the CEG awards for the past seven years is attached for City Council reference (Attachment #1). The CEG grant cycle was suspended during FYs 2020- 21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
There were 26 CEG applications received for FY 2024-25 with a total requested amount of $175,194.50. Staff conducted an initial review to confirm the applications met minimum qualifications. No applications were rejected for non- compliance with program requirements during staff’s initial review.
The City Council-appointed Community Funding Review Committee (CFRC) members separately reviewed each application and scored them based on several grant-specific criteria, including the organization’s mission and background, activity or event goals and objectives, and benefit to City residents.
On March 27, 2024, the CFRC met to discuss the collated scores of the 26 applications. The committee determined two applicants’ proposals did not meet the Community Grant criteria due to the application narratives indicating grant funding would support fundraising activities. This is in conflict with the grant criteria FY 2024-25 Community Events Grant Recommendations
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4 outlined in Resolution No. 2023-064 which does not allow for proposed grant activities to involve or support fundraising efforts.
Allocation Scoring Method
In May 2019, the CFRC approved an allocation method based on collated points scored on the application as shown in Table 1. Collating the committee members’ score cards and using this original allocation method revealed that 11 applicants scored over 85 points and were eligible for 100 percent of the funding requested.
Ten applicants scored between 70-84 points and were eligible for 75 percent of the funding requested. Three applicants scored between 55-69 points and were eligible for 50 percent of the funding requested. Two applicants scored zero and were not recommended for funding, in alignment with the grant criteria outlined in Resolution No. 2023-064 which does not allow for proposed grant activities to involve or support fundraising efforts. Under the original allocation method, a total of $130,776.13 would be recommended. With a budget of $90,000, the CFRC would only have been able to recommend funding to fourteen applicants, leaving the remaining ten qualifying applicants without a funding recommendation.
Table 1: CFRC Original Allocation Method
During the March 27, 2024, meeting, the CFRC voted unanimously (7-0 with 2 absent) in favor of temporarily amending the allocation method based on collated points scored so all 24 eligible applications would receive a funding recommendation. The temporary allocation method is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: CFRC Temporary Allocation Method
Collating the CFRC members’ scorecards and using the temporary allocation method revealed that three applicants scored between 90-100 points and are eligible for 100 percent of the funding requested. Nine applicants scored between 85-89 points and are eligible for 70 percent of the funding requested. Nine 85 – 100 points scored 100% of requested amount
70 - 84 points scored 75% of requested amount
55 - 69 points scored 50% of requested amount
54 or below points scored 25% of requested amount
90 – 100 points scored 100% of requested amount
85 - 89 points scored 70% of requested amount
70 - 84 points scored 45% of requested amount
1 - 69 points scored 25% of requested amount
0 points 0% of requested amount
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4 applicants scored between 70-84 points and are eligible for 45 percent of the funding requested. Three applicants scored between 1-69 points and are eligible for 25 percent of the funding requested. The remaining two applicants were given a score of zero and are not recommended for funding, for the reason stated above, that their requests were in support of fundraising activities. The total funding recommendation is $89,712.68.
The CFRC unanimously (7-0 with 2 absent) recommends awarding grants in the amount of $89,712.68 to 24 applicants (Attachment #2).
Next Steps
Upon approval by City Council, CEG grantees will enter into standard community grant agreements with the City for a one-year period, effective July 1, 2024. The agreement states that staff reserve the right to request reimbursement of all or part of the funds if the funds are not expended for the program as described in the contract. Grantees will receive payment upfront and will be required to submit a Final Performance Report that demonstrates how the City funds were used to benefit the community.
LEVINE ACT (California Government Code § 84308):
This item is subject to the Levine Act. City Councilmembers who have received a campaign contribution of more than $250 (aggregated) within the preceding 12 months from a party or their agent/representative, or a financially-interested participant involved in this proceeding may do either of the following: (1) disclose the contribution on the record and recuse themselves from this proceeding; or if applicable (2) return the portion of the contribution that exceeds $250 within 30 days from the time the official knew or should have known about the contribution, and participate in the proceeding.
All parties and their agents/representatives must disclose on the record of this proceeding any aggregated contribution of more than $250 made to any Councilmember within the preceding 12 months. Councilmembers are prohibited from accepting, soliciting, or directing a campaign contribution of more than $250 (aggregated) from a party, their agent/representative, or a financially interested participant during a proceeding and for 12 months following the date a final decision is made. In addition, a party, their agent/representative, or a financially interested participant is prohibited from contributing more than $250 (aggregated) to a Councilmember during a proceeding and for 12 months following the date a final decision is made.
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4 COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goals:
C. Operate City government in a fiscally and managerially responsible and prudent manner to ensure that the City of Thousand Oaks remains one of California's most desirable places to live, work, visit, recreate, and raise a family.
G. Continue City's commitment to community and cultural programs and services (such as Performing Arts/Theatres, Libraries, TOTV, Visual Arts,Youth and Senior Programs).
PREPARED BY: Clyde Doheney, CFRC Chair
Whitney Luxenberger, Senior Administrative Specialist
Attachments:
Attachment #1 – Community Events Grant Award Seven-Year History Attachment #2 – FY 2024-25 Community Events Grant Award Recommendations
CMO: 481-10/SM/H:Common/City Council/Council Items/2024/050724/050724 CFRC CEG Staff Report