Augusta council approves Community Improvement Fund with Central Kansas Community Foundation

Augusta — The Augusta City Council voted to approve a designated fund agreement with the Augusta Community Foundation and the Central Kansas Community Foundation to establish an "Augusta Community Improvement Fund," and directed staff to draft internal guidelines for how the city will request and use donations from that fund.

The fund will be managed by the Central Kansas Community Foundation, which will handle financial administration, reporting and donor services; donated money designated to the new fund can be routed to the city for community projects when requested. "The money would go directly to Josh or city manager or city staff for the benefit of community improvements," said Joe Terek, a longtime local volunteer involved in creating the fund. The council approved the designated fund agreement by voice vote; Councilmember Kip seconded the motion and the measure carried.

Why it matters: The designated fund creates a standing mechanism so residents and estate donors can give to a general local improvement pool rather than creating a one-off fund for each project. City officials and volunteers said that approach should make it easier to collect donations, accept credit card gifts and avoid asking staff to manage donor reporting and tax reporting in-house.

How it will work: Central Kansas Community Foundation will administer the fund and charge administrative fees that scale with corpus size. A staff member at the foundation described the fee schedule to the council: a $100 flat fee per month for funds with balances of $0–$9,999; 1.75% on balances of $10,000–$49,999; 1.5% for $50,000–$99,999; and lower percentages for larger balances. Joe Terek said some fund line items will be expendable (the corpus can be spent) and others will be endowments (only a percentage of earnings distributed annually).

Council members pressed for clarity about who would decide whether to release funds and whether donors could restrict uses. City Manager Josh Shaw said that restricted gifts would be handled according to donor intent and foundation practice, while the new community improvement fund will be structured so the city can request funds directly when a qualifying project comes up. "The city is not putting money into this — it is a tool for private individuals if they want to make donations towards projects that would be beneficial to the community," Shaw said.

Transparency and oversight: Several council members asked for local controls and reporting. The council voted to direct staff to draft a local policy describing the decision-making process and transparency rules the city will use when it requests funds from the foundation. That internal guideline will address who may request money, how requests will be evaluated, and reporting back to council and the public; council members said they want clear documentation so donors and residents can see where donations are spent.

Recusal and roles: During the discussion, one council member noted a prior affiliation with Augusta Progress Inc. and said they would recuse from related votes where appropriate. Joe Terek, who discussed the fund's origin and operations, identified himself as a volunteer who worked on the Castle Park project and as part of local philanthropy efforts; Angie (a Central Kansas Community Foundation staffer) was noted as a foundation contact but did not attend the meeting.

Next steps: Staff will return to council with a draft policy for how the city will request and manage money designated to the Augusta Community Improvement Fund. The designated fund agreement passed; the council also approved a separate motion directing staff to prepare the local guidelines.

Ending: Council members said the fund provides a useful tool for future projects, scholarships or community improvements and that foundation administration will reduce staff workload for handling donations and reporting.