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Winchester staff proposes Community Investment Funds to centralize small grants; commission gives preliminary OK
Summary
Finance director Alicia May proposed reclassifying recurring municipal transfers as "shared services agreements" and creating a Winchester Community Investment Fund to centralize discretionary grants. Commissioners generally agreed to proceed with a digital application and a short solicitation period; formal budget allocations will come later.
Finance Director Alicia May told the Winchester City Commission on March 4 that staff wants to separate recurring intergovernmental and partnership payments from one-time or discretionary transfers and create a new Winchester Community Investment Fund for competitive grant awards.
May said the city currently budgets roughly $1.3 million for recurring shared agreements and about $250,000 in open transfers for the current fiscal year. She proposed labeling the recurring items “shared services agreements” and moving nonrecurring community support into a single, public application process to increase transparency and broaden the applicant pool.
Under the proposal, the city would: set a pool amount during the budget cycle, open a digital application for a fixed period (staff suggested two weeks as an example), require financial documentation from prior funding recipients, and require an in-person presentation by applicants before the commission. Staff would compile commissioner recommendations, average them, and use that figure to determine awards.
May gave examples of details staff plans to include in the application: proof of 501(c)(3) status, prior-year budget documents, fundraising summaries, a project sustainability statement and, for prior recipients, final reports documenting how previously awarded funds were spent.
Commissioners asked about caps, fairness and potential gaming of an averaging method. May acknowledged the averaging method could produce wide ranges and said staff would return with an amended scoring or cap if commissioners wanted a limit on award increases for prior recipients. Commissioners also requested that staff add a section showing prior-year city funding for each applicant and require two years of financials for organizations that have previously received city support.
No formal ordinance or budget appropriation was adopted at the meeting. Commissioners signaled preliminary consensus to have staff develop the digital application and timeline; the city manager and finance director said they would present a recommended pool amount and any caps during the formal budget hearings beginning in May.
Staff said it would post a digital application and related materials on the city website, require complete submissions for consideration and publicize the opening on social media. May told commissioners staff would schedule in-person presentations in 10-to-15-minute time slots if many applicants apply.
