TO:City Council
FROM:Community Funding Review Committee
DATE:December 2, 2025
SUBJECT: FY 2025-26 Community Sports Grant Recommendations RECOMMENDATION:
1. Approve Community Sports Grants totaling $99,792.57.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute Community Sports Grant agreements with grantees.
3. Authorize expenditure in the amount of $99,792.57 from A/C #001-0970-646- 5920 (General Fund - Grants and Donations, SF2026) for Community Sports Grants.
4. Find that this action is not a project as defined under the California Environmental Quality Act.
LEVINE ACT ITEM: No
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Minimal administrative staff costs associated with executing contracts and compliance monitoring, and grant funding in the amount of $100,000 are included in the adopted FY 2025-26 General Fund Budget.
BACKGROUND:
The Community Sports Grant (CSG) program provides financial support for capital projects or equipment purchases that benefit sports or fitness-related teams and groups within City limits. Since its inception in 1998, the program has funded a wide variety of projects, including the replacement of outdated or unsafe sports equipment, facility renovations to improve accessibility, indoor golf equipment, and batting cage refurbishments. The program is intended to benefit a broad cross- section of the community and is available to local, non-profit community and school organizations.
FY 2025-26 Community Sports Grant Recommendations
December 2, 2025
During the City’s budget process, City Council renewed its support to the CSG program by budgeting $100,000 in the Adopted FY 2025-26 General Fund Budget.
Grant awards range from a minimum of $2,000 to a maximum of $10,000, and applicants are required to demonstrate that the requested funds will be matched through other sources.
Applications for FY 2025-26 CSG program were accepted from September 2, 2025, through October 3, 2025. Public outreach included news postings on the City’s website and social media channels, advertisements in the September and October editions of the CityScene e-newsletter, and a FY 2025-26 Community Grant Program workshop held on February 4, 2025, which was recorded and made available for viewing on the City website. Additional outreach included emails to previous CSG recipients, school administrators, and booster clubs within the Conejo Valley Unified School District, as well as a press release to local media.
The Acorn published an article about the grant opportunity on September 5, 2025.
Complete program information is available on the City’s Grant Opportunities webpage (www.toaks.gov/grants).
A history of the CSG (previously called Sports Facilities Endowment Fund, SFEF, and changed by City Council at the September 14, 2021, City Council Meeting) awards for the past five years is attached for reference (Attachment #1).
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
The City received 26 complete applications for the FY 2025-26 CSG program, requesting a combined total of $162,534.58. Staff verified that all applications met the program’s minimum eligibility requirements.
The City Council-appointed Community Funding Review Committee (CFRC) members independently reviewed and scored each application based on grant- specific criteria, including the organization’s mission and background, program goals and objectives, and the anticipated benefit to City residents.
On October 29, 2025, the CFRC convened to discuss the collated scores of the applications. One member recused themselves from scoring and discussion of a single application due to a conflict of interest; the score was de-identified and reviewed by the remaining members to ensure impartiality.
Allocation Scoring Method
To guide funding discussions, applications were initially ranked by score, with a preliminary allocation framework based on scoring ranges. Because total requests exceeded the available $100,000 budget, the CFRC discussed and finalized an equitable allocation. Under the FY 2025-26 CSG Allocation Method outlined in FY 2025-26 Community Sports Grant Recommendations
December 2, 2025
Table 1, six applicants scoring above 85 points are recommended to receive 100 percent of their requested funding and 12 applicants scoring between 76 and 84 points are recommended to receive 80 percent of their requested funding. The remaining eight applicants, scoring below 75 points, are not recommended for funding.
Table 1: FY 2025-26 CSG Allocation Method
85 – 100 points scored 100% of requested amount
76 – 84 points scored 80% of requested amount
75 or below points scored No funding
The CFRC unanimously recommends (8-0, with 1 member absent) awarding a total of $99,792.57 to 18 programs (Attachment #2).
Next Steps
Upon City Council approval, CSG grantees will enter into standard one-year community grant agreements with the City, effective January 1, 2026. The agreements stipulate that staff may request reimbursement of all or part of the grant funds if they are not used for the program as described in the contract.
Grantees will receive funding upfront and will be required to submit a Final Performance Report demonstrating how the City’s funds were expended to benefit the community.
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: Kyle Rohrbach, CFRC Chair
Sarah Mailes, Community Services Analyst
Attachments:
Attachment #1 – Community Sports Grant Award Five-Year History Attachment #2 – FY 2025-26 Community Sports Grant Award Recommendations
CCS: 483-10/sm/z:\common\community services\city council items\2025 staff reports\12022025 cfrc CSG staff report.docx