Finance committee outlines revisions to nonprofit donation policy; draft to go to full board

The finance committee reviewed a revised draft of the city’s nonprofit charitable donation policy and directed staff to return the document to the full board as part of the ordinance process.

Major draft changes include accepting an organization’s most recent Form 990 in lieu of a third-party audit; moving the application submittal period to open on July 1 in years funds are available; creating three funding tiers (economic/civic; health and safety; educational/recreational/other) to prioritize awards; setting per-organization caps tied to a percentage of estimated expenditures (modeled on Spring Hill’s approach); and converting the city payment method to a grant-style reimbursement, requiring organizations to make approved expenditures first and submit proof for reimbursement.

Staff said the policy would reserve nonprofit funding only in years when the city posts a positive change to general fund balance; in years with an operating or capital deficit, no donations would be available except maintenance-of-effort items. The draft also left board discretion to set award disbursement dates in award letters to align with cash-flow and capital needs.

Committee members suggested adjustments — for example, clarifying tier assignments and considering raising maximums for educational groups to match tier 2 — and agreed to continue review in the next two meetings before sending the ordinance to the full board for two readings. Staff flagged that fiscal year 25–26 would not be eligible for donations under the proposed language because of a reported deficit.