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 incorporated in the final motion: Hilliard Food Pantry — $22,000; Patches of Light — $5,000 (earmarked for Hilliard families); Hilliard Historical Society — $47,500; Taste of Peace — $20,000; Hilliard Arts Council — $50,000; and Home in Hilliard — $55,055, for a total appropriation of $200,000. The motion was adopted in a roll-call vote with six votes in favor and one opposed (Vice President Teter voted no; Councilman Betts was excused). The motion and roll call appear in the meeting record (motion text read by staff and a roll call vote at the end of the funding discussion).

Discussion focused on allocation principles and program fit. Council members said the ad hoc committee had met for months to set funding guidelines; one presenter identified as Dean described the committee's work and application outreach. Some council members said they were uncomfortable using taxpayer dollars for organizations that raise private funds or that are affiliated with churches; others countered that many requests addressed basic needs. Legal counsel Thad advised that a religious organization's status alone should not disqualify it from funding if the request is for nonreligious uses; he said that determination should be based on the substance of the application.

Council placed requirements and notes on several awards. Patches of Light was asked to earmark its funds for families from Hilliard and to provide line‑by‑line accounting of expenditures. The historical society and the arts council were asked to review and report on their budgets and to provide separate accounting for how city funds would be spent. Council also declined to fund several applicants in this cycle (including Saint Brendan’s / Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and Hilliard United Methodist Church) and moved the Ohio Manufacturing Innovation Center request out of the grant program for discussion with the Hilliard Development Corporation (HDC) and capital-improvement planning instead, noting that the innovation-center proposal appeared more economic-development–oriented than the program's intent.

The council also affirmed recusal procedures: members must recuse from discussion and leave the room if they or a family member have a fiduciary relationship (board member or executive position) with an applicant. Several members recused themselves during portions of the discussion (the minutes show Miss Vermillion recused for the Arts Council conversation).

The grant awards were described as one-time appropriations for the 2025 cycle; council members asked that recipients return accounting and, where applicable, evidence that funds were used for Hilliard residents. No additional policy or statutory changes were enacted at the meeting; council members said the ad hoc committee would reconvene to tweak program rules for future cycles.

The appropriation motion passed 6-1 (Vice President Teter voting no).