Hilliard City Council approves $200,000 in community grants after hour-plus debate

The Hilliard City Council on Oct. 20 approved $200,000 in city grant funding for local nonprofits after more than an hour of discussion and budget trade-offs, approving the measure by a 6-1 roll-call vote. The council listed amounts for six organizations and included conditions requiring recipient accounting and, in one case, a geographic earmark.

Council President Catone introduced the single agenda item as “the grant funding request,” saying the ad hoc committee had prepared recommendations for council review. Les (council member) argued the city had room in reserves and urged full funding for many applicants, saying, “We're running a 5 to $6,000,000 surplus” and that the city had “about a $9,000,000 reserve fund.” Other council members emphasized the ad hoc committee's work and recommended reviewing requests individually rather than applying a blanket percentage cut.

Council members approved the following awards, as read into the record and…