Finance committee narrows Public Service Grant awards: cap set at $125,000 and single award per organization in fiscal year

The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee on April 15 amended and approved legislation adjusting Public Service Grant (PSG) rules after widespread public comment from nonprofit leaders and committee debate.

Council member Laynan offered an amendment to reduce the maximum single PSG award from $150,000 to $125,000. After discussion and public testimony from multiple nonprofit leaders and PSG council members urging retention of a $150,000 cap, the committee approved the Laynan amendment as a compromise.

Council member Arias then offered a separate amendment to limit any single nonprofit organization to one PSG award per fiscal year (across all PSG categories). Committee members debated the effects of that limit, and supporters said it would broaden the pool of funded organizations; opponents said large organizations with distinct program lines could be adversely affected. The committee approved the Arias amendment as well.

Maribel Hernandez, chief of grants and contract compliance, and Daniel Henry and Alex Savar (members of the PSG council/rules committee) described the PSG council's process: the council and its rules committee spent several hours over months evaluating categories and recommendations and recommended limiting applications per category and establishing a micro/minigrant program for smaller providers. Public commenters representing hospitals, housing providers, literacy and nonprofit-capacity groups urged keeping the maximum at $150,000, arguing that reductions would reduce service capacity and destabilize nonprofits.

With amendments adopted, the committee voted to approve the PSG bill, listed in the agenda as item 9 (bill 20-25-1-91). The final recorded tally on the amended bill was 6 yeas, 0 nays and 1 abstention (Council member Pittman abstained earlier citing a connection to Clare White Mission). The committee directed staff to work with the PSG council on implementation details and to continue developing the micro/minigrant program structure and rubric; MVP/PSG will continue to finalize program details and reporting requirements before separate legislation for the minigrant program is filed.

Ending: Committee members and public commenters asked for further work by the PSG council and staff to define implementation details, and staff said they would return with program specifics and budget implications as needed.