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Board hears questions on process for community-initiative grants; administrator says MOUs will follow budget adoption
Summary
Supervisors asked about the county process and accountability for community-initiative nonprofit funding; the administrator said existing grantees were invited under the prior policy timeline, MOUs will be developed after budget adoption and the revised policy will guide future rounds.
Multiple supervisors asked how nonprofit community-initiative funding requests were solicited and how the county will track and hold grantees accountable. The exchange occurred during the budget review when the administrator and staff described the recommended community-initiative funding in the 2026 packet.
Supervisor Sue Stevens and others asked whether nonprofits were solicited to apply, whether additional organizations requested funding, and why the packet does not include a complete list of all requests and the reasons some requests were not funded. County administration responded that the budget calendar called for departmental and agency submissions by August 1 under the prior policy that governed requests; the community-initiatives policy was revised in August and therefore the prior process (which solicited existing 2025 grantees) was followed for the 2026 budget. Administration said the policy adopted in August includes language that MOUs will be established with agencies upon budget adoption and that those MOUs will document expectations and accountability.
Supervisors asked for application and decision information; administration said that MOUs will be developed after the board adopts the budget and that staff would circulate details of funding decisions and the basis for awards. Administrator Light said that once the budget is adopted in November, the administration will bring MOUs back to the board for the funded agencies.
Why it matters: Supervisors raised transparency and accountability concerns about community-initiative funding. The administration said it would use the new policy and MOUs to document expected deliverables after the budget is adopted.
Ending: Supervisors asked staff to provide full documentation of community-initiative requests and decisions for review.
