Richland County committee reviews Q2 grant compliance and $1.76 million FY2026 funding plan

The Richland County Community Impact Grants Committee heard updates on FY2025 quarterly compliance and preliminary results from the FY2026 grant window, including application counts, total requests and the committee's funding framework.

Budget Director Madison Wilkerson told the committee that the Q2 compliance report showed that "many of the organizations were compliant" and that one organization was listed as noncompliant while two others remained outstanding after follow-up attempts (she said staff had sent at least two emails since the Jan. 31 deadline). Wilkerson said the Q1 report had been due Oct. 31, 2024, and Q2 was due Jan. 31, 2025.

The county received 53 applications for FY2026 and applicants requested a combined $3,062,814, Wilkerson said: "So the total requested funding ... was $3,062,814." The county's FY2026 funding set-aside available for the committee to recommend to the budget process is up to $1,764,000 for awards starting July 1. The committee previously set a split that reserves 60% of that amount for designated community partners and 40% for competitive grants: 60% equals $1,058,400 and the remaining 40% equals $705,600, Wilkerson confirmed.

Wilkerson and staff explained why some requested amounts are listed as ineligible in the reviewer summary. "Ineligible amounts could be anything that would be operating expenses," she said, adding the guidelines prohibit purchasing gift cards and require documentation such as IRS Form 990s, business licenses and secretary-of-state filings. Staff said missing required documentation or proposed uses outside the published eligible-expense list were the typical reasons reviewers marked amounts ineligible.

Committee members asked about why many groups had not drawn down funds from prior awards. Wilkerson said timing of program activities can explain delayed drawdowns: some events occur in the spring, so funds have not yet been expended. She also noted that if a grantee had already submitted a final report and drawn the full award, the Q2 column would show a dash to indicate no Q2 report was necessary.

Staff provided other administrative notes: the FY2026 application window opened Dec. 2 and closed Feb. 4, and the FY2026 recommendation pool reflects an available cap rather than a guaranteed disbursement to every requester. Committee members asked staff to identify whether applicants are in year one or year two of multi-year awards; staff agreed to add that distinction for community-impact funding.

Members also discussed the committee's approach to "community partner" status. The committee and county council previously agreed community-partner designations would be reviewed every three years; staff said this appears to be the third year for that cycle and the committee will revisit criteria and the roster as the FY2026 process continues. The chair asked staff to prepare a concise summary sheet of community-partner requests for committee review, rather than sending each full application.

Next steps: staff will provide the additional breakdowns requested by council members (including per-application eligible/ineligible detail and prior-year status where applicable). The committee did not take final funding actions at this meeting and noted that it will begin formal motions and selections at the next scheduled meeting to meet budget deadlines.

Details documented in the meeting record

- Q1 report due: Oct. 31, 2024; Q2 report due: Jan. 31, 2025. - FY2026 application window: Dec. 2, 2024 ' Feb. 4, 2025. - Applications received: 53. - Total requested across all applicants: $3,062,814. - Funding available (committee recommendation cap): up to $1,764,000 (FY2026, beginning July 1). - Funding split: 60% community partners ($1,058,400), 40% competitive grants ($705,600). - Compliance: "many" organizations compliant; one organization listed as noncompliant; two outstanding after follow-up. - Common ineligibility reasons: operating expenses, gift-card purchases, missing required documents (Form 990 for nonprofits, business licenses, secretary-of-state filings). - Prior-year SIG application count noted by staff: 77 (FY prior year).

Speakers quoted or cited in the record: Madison Wilkerson (Budget Director), Jessica Mackey (Committee chair), Matia Pugh (staff contact), Administrator Brown (Richland County administration).

Ending: The committee left funding decisions for later meetings while asking staff for clarified summaries, documentation checks and a listing of which applicants are in year one or year two of previously approved awards. The committee will resume deliberations at its next scheduled meeting to meet the county's FY2026 budget timeline.