City Council Staff Report Page 1 of 5 July 28, 2026
Staff Report
Agenda Item No. 6.2
DATE: July 28, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Joan Malloy, City Manager
SUBJECT: Receive Informational Report on the Public Services Grant Allocation Process
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
During the development of the Biennial Budget for FY 2025-2026 and FY 2026-2027, the City Council expressed an interest in better understanding the Public Services Grant Allocation process. The City Council requested that staff return to Council prior to the next budget cycle to provide a briefing on the upcoming round of funding.
In response to this request, staff is providing an overview of the Public Services Grant Allocation process. The budget process begins in January 2027, and a Notice of Funding Availability for grants will be issued in December 2026. Staff recommends that the City Council receive this informational report and provide feedback in advance of the Public Service Grant Allocation process.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
This agenda item does not align with a specific goal or strategy but does support the City’s public service grant process, which supports the City’s mission to create and provide effective, high-quality services that foster a high quality of life and economic vitality.
BACKGROUND
As part of its biennial budget process, the City annually commits approximately $250,000 of General Fund monies, in addition to approximately 15 percent (maximum allowed) of the City’s Federal Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) yearly allocation to support public services. This amount has varied over the years, but on average the City provides approximately $65,000 in CDBG funds, totaling approximately $315,000 per year, to support public services.
Please note that CDBG and HOME funds are also utilized for resident and business “support” services that do not count towards the 15% cap. Examples of these programs include: 1) support for residents who want to open an in-house childcare facility, 2) minor Agenda Item No. 6.2
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home repair program grants for low-income residents, and 3) temporary residential rent assistance with one-on-one financial counseling.
In 2016, the City prepared a Public Services Needs Assessment Study (“Study”), which the City Council approved in September of that year. The Study recommended creating a grant application process to identify non-profit services that reflect community needs and priorities while ensuring a transparent and fair selection method. In response, the City established an application process in which a subcommittee of the Human Relations Committee (“HRC”) reviews submissions and provides funding recommendations. These recommendations are then forwarded to the City Council for final approval.
The Study was updated in 2023 and identified increased needs for programs and services supporting individuals experiencing homelessness, seniors, and youth. In 2025, Alameda County completed the Regional Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing (“AI”), which informs the City's five-year Federal Consolidated Plan (“ConPlan”). The ConPlan is HUD's required strategic planning document that identifies local housing and community development priorities and guides the use of CDBG funds. The AI identified additional priorities, including expanding housing opportunities for people with special needs, addressing displacement in high-cost and gentrifying areas, and promoting fair housing enforcement and education through interagency collaboration. Together, the Study, AI, and ConPlan guide the City's CDBG funding priorities.
The overall priorities identified in the documents described above are used to establish priorities for programs and services that are considered eligible programs/activities for the City’s Notice of Funding Availability (“NOFA”) process for allocation of the grant funds, which is further described below.
DISCUSSION
This section provides an overview of the City's Public Service Grant NOFA process for awarding CDBG and General Fund monies. It outlines the application requirements, evaluation criteria, review procedures, and scoring methodology. The section also explains the respective roles of City staff and the HRC Subcommittee in reviewing and recommending funding awards. The procedures are intended to promote transparency, consistency, accountability, and fairness while ensuring that funding decisions align with community priorities and federal CDBG requirements.
APPLICATION PROCESS
A sample NOFA is attached (Attachment 1) and includes the following components:
• Examples of Eligible Programs/Activities
• Minimum applicant eligibility requirements;
• Applicable CDBG requirements;
• Contract, insurance, and reporting requirements;
• Application review and approval process;
• Schedule for application review and funding awards;
• Information regarding the mandatory Technical Assistance Workshop; and • Information regarding the City’s online ZoomGrants application portal.
Agenda Item No. 6.2
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In addition, applicants are provided with the Evaluation and Scoring Criteria (Attachment 2) to understand better the questions being asked and the points assigned to each section.
Mandatory Technical Assistance Workshop
The City conducts a mandatory workshop for all prospective applicants. The workshop covers:
• Application requirements;
• Funding priorities;
• Scoring criteria;
• Submission deadlines;
• Contract requirements; and
• Training on the ZoomGrants portal (Attachment 3).
Applicants who do not attend the workshop are not eligible to submit an application. The workshop is conducted virtually and in-person. Holding a single workshop ensures that all applicants receive the same information and responses to questions, reducing the potential for inconsistent guidance or perceived favoritism.
In addition to the Technical Assistance Workshop, staff will respond to administrative and programmatic questions related to the NOFA and the online portal system. As a best practice, after the NOFA has been issued, staff does not assist applicants in drafting or improving responses in a way that could affect scoring in order to ensure neutrality and fairness.
Scoring Process
The scoring criteria are included in Attachment 2. Based on recommendations included in the Study, the criteria prioritize programs that provide services within Union City, conduct equitable outreach and marketing, establish partnerships and collaborations to reduce duplication of services, and improve performance measurement, reporting, and outcome tracking.
ZoomGrants requires applicants to complete a pre-application to verify eligibility before submitting a full application. Applicants must demonstrate that they are a valid 501(c)(3) nonprofit or public agency and provide financial documentation based on their annual revenue that is uploaded to the portal and reviewed by staff before they are allowed to complete the full application.
City staff scores the objective portions of the application for applicants that pass the preapplication process, which consist primarily of eligibility and compliance-related questions utilizing the table in Attachment 2. At the top of the Application Evaluation and Scoring Criteria form, the rows are labeled with possible points, and then the “City Staff Score” and “HRC Subcommittee Score” are at the top of each row, and the questions are highlighted in yellow so that it is clear which member is scoring which question on the sheet. The questions for City staff are scored on an all-or-nothing basis while the questions the HRC Subcommittee reviews are scored on a sliding scale, which is described further below.
Agenda Item No. 6.2
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After staff completes their review, the applications are forwarded to the HRC Social Services Subcommittee for their evaluation. Subcommittee members score responses for quality and completeness using the established point ranges. • Maximum points are awarded for detailed, well-organized responses that fully address all parts of the question and provide supporting examples or measurable outcomes.
• Low scores are given for incomplete, vague, or poorly developed responses. • Zero points are assigned when a question is left unanswered or when the applicant indicates it cannot meet a required reporting or service requirement.
The maximum score an application can receive is 100 points, and a minimum score of 50 points is needed to receive an award. The amount of funding an applicant receives is based on several components including overall score, funding request, funding availability, and past performance (if applicable). Staff works with the HRC Subcommittee to finalize the scores, review the funding requests, and create a funding recommendation list based on the components listed above. After the award recommendations are finalized, they are brought back to the full HRC for final approval.
Those scores are then organized and incorporated into the CDBG Annual Action Plan.
The recommendations are presented to the City Council for approval as part of the Action Plan's approval prior to its submission to HUD.
Some applications do not receive a funding award due to low scores. Common reasons why applications receive low scores include:
• Incomplete or insufficient application responses;
• Inability to commit to required reporting; and
• Inability to meet CDBG, NOFA, or other minimum program requirements.
After the NOFA process is complete and funding allocations are made, staff typically meet with any applicants who did not receive an award to provide feedback on how they can improve their scoring for a future round of funding.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact on the City’s General Fund by accepting this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council receive this report on the City’s Public Service Grant Allocation process and provide feedback.
Prepared by: Francisco Gomez, Housing and Community Development Manager Submitted by: Carmela Campbell, Economic and Community Development Director Agenda Item No. 6.2
City Council Staff Report Page 5 of 5 July 28, 2026
Attachments
1. Attachment 1 – Sample of Public Services NOFA
2. Attachment 2 – Sample of Application Evaluation and Scoring Criteria
3. Attachment 3 – Sample of Applicant Training Handout-ZoomGrants