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Staff circulates draft policy to formalize council discretionary, neighborhood improvement and community agency funds
Summary
Staff presented a draft policy for neighborhood improvement funds, council contingency and discretionary community agency support, proposing application, reporting and audit requirements and options for encumbrance; councilmembers requested clarifications about application timing, reporting deadlines and vendor/workflow tracking.
City staff presented a draft policy Monday for use of council discretionary funds, neighborhood improvement program allocations and community agency discretionary support.
The draft consolidates three existing funding buckets: (1) Neighborhood Improvement Program funds (an accumulated allotment currently described as $10,000 per elected official that rolls over year‑to‑year), (2) council contingency (a $20,000 general fund line item that lapses annually) and (3) community agency discretionary funds (a $35,000 total pool, $5,000 per elected official for nonprofits that does not roll over). The draft proposes an application form, a letter of intent confirming use for public purpose and a recipient report subject to audit; staff also included a checklist for funding items to accompany each request.
Councilmembers asked whether a formal application is required when councilmembers make donations of their discretionary dollars and whether the policy should allow donations to organizations where a councilmember serves as a volunteer board member. Staff agreed to revise language: councilmembers requested an option for encumbered vs. unencumbered donations and a defined reporting deadline (for example, receipt or end of recipient fiscal year) for organizations to confirm how funds were used. Council members also asked staff to integrate the paperwork into the city's ERP/vendor workflow so that payment and receipt of required reporting can be tracked programmatically.
Staff said they will revise the draft to reflect those changes and circulate it before a later formal adoption vote. No policy was adopted at the workshop.
