Council approves $350,000 in small grants for FY2026; committee language on Sister Cities revised

The Sedona City Council on July 14 approved the Small Grants Review Committee’s recommendations for fiscal year 2026 totaling $350,000. The package was structured by the committee to direct approximately 40% of funds to the arts, 40% to social services and 20% at the committee’s discretion.

Christy Turk, city liaison for the small grants program, told the council the committee — chaired by Stephanie Giesbrecht and made up of seven volunteers — reviewed 34 applications and recommended the funding allocations. Giesbrecht described the committee’s work and offered to answer council questions about scoring and award rationale.

Councilors asked for clarification about the eligibility and use of city resources for the Sister Cities organization (Canmore and others). Legal counsel said previous council direction limited direct staff support for Sister Cities to a $5,000 in‑kind cap; the grant award itself is a separate action and would be available to any qualifying nonprofit. Council asked staff to strike language in the recommendation that implied the city had an obligation to fund Sister Cities activities; councilors said the municipal role should be described as discretionary. Council approved the grant package unanimously and directed staff to correct the recommendation wording for the Sister Cities entry.

The motion approved the committee’s Exhibit A distribution with an Exhibit B contingency if an ACOG program is established for FY2026. Councilors and staff repeatedly thanked the volunteer committee for its review work.

Ending Staff will prepare corrected recommendation language for future records and proceed with grant agreements and contract paperwork for approved grantees.