The Grants Commission approved the 2026–27 annual grant application and reporting forms and the spring 2026 special-project grant application and report forms, while members discussed possible changes to demographic categories and limits on report length.
The commission voted to approve the forms after staff said the documents are consistent from year to year except for date fields. "We try to keep it fairly consistent unless the commission feels like you're not getting the information that you need," a staff member said.
Commissioners raised a separate question about how the forms classify "seniors." One member said COTA (a previous board practice) uses age 55 as the senior threshold; the city does not have a formal, citywide definition. "That's the criteria that COTA has previously established," a staff member said. Commissioners expressed concern that changing the cutoff would require organizations to alter their reporting systems.
A commissioner proposed considering limits on report length or word counts for narrative sections to make review easier; one member suggested that would be a bigger change and should be discussed for next year.
Formal actions recorded: motions to approve the 2026–27 annual grant application and report form and the spring 2026 special-project application and report forms were made, seconded, and approved by voice vote.
Context and next steps: staff said the annual form is updated each year where it requests specific years; otherwise, criteria remain consistent. Commissioners asked staff to consider whether the commission should propose a different age cutoff or leave it to applicant organizations to report using their existing categories. The commission did not change demographic definitions at the meeting.