City reports growth in grant activity; staff recommends clearer priorities and resources for grant management
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Summary
Finance staff reported recent growth in grant applications and awards, noted that ARPA accounts for a large share of current award activity, and recommended more centralized grant compliance and possible additional resources or contracting for specialized proposals.
Finance staff updated the council on grant activity and outcomes, reporting several recent awards and an increase in applications as the city pursues federal, state and private funding for infrastructure and program needs.
Sergio Saino, director of finance and procurement, said the city centralized most grant‑management work with the addition of a grant writer position in 2022 and that a newly hired staffer began in May 2024. He reported that, in the most recent fiscal year, grants awarded totaled about $17.7 million and that cumulative grant‑funded expenditures reached roughly $53.2 million (about $22 million of which was ARPA‑related).
For the current fiscal year, he said the city had applied for about $35.6 million in grants and had been notified of awards totalling about $38.8 million as of March 31. Examples cited during the briefing included airport grants, wastewater and utility grants, and community safety and health awards. Departments that routinely secure grants include fire, police and public health, Saino said.
Council members asked whether one grant‑writer position is sufficient for a city of this size and whether smaller departments have the capacity to pursue specialized grants. Saino and mayoral staff said departments will continue to apply for department‑specific grants but that citywide coordination has improved. Staff urged council members to route grant leads or project suggestions to the grant office to allow prioritization, and said the city is implementing an ERP grant‑module to track awards and compliance. The presentation noted recurring constraints: many competitive grants require cost‑sharing or local matches and those match requirements must be budgeted in advance.
Council members and staff discussed whether to budget either an in‑house increase in grant capacity or to retain outside specialist consultants for high‑value or highly technical proposals. Staff said they would return with more detailed analysis on grant‑staff capacity, cost per application, and recommended prioritization criteria for council consideration in the upcoming budget cycle.
