Budget committee recommends FY26 nonprofit partnership awards after contested review

The Budget, Governance and Intergovernmental Committee reviewed the manager’s proposed FY26 Financial Partners recommendations and related one-time funding proposals at a June 2 meeting. Staff described a cross-departmental scoring process and a policy requiring that city funding not exceed 30% of an organization’s program or operating budget; new applicants were capped at $100,000.

Sherry Smith (Strategy & Budget) summarized the outreach and scoring: applications opened in October and were evaluated by a 19-person staff panel; staff held an information session in November and verified budgets and performance measures before scoring. Staff said organizations funded in FY25 that were recommended again for FY26 were kept at flat funding levels; new applicants were capped. The manager’s FY26 proposal included a mix of general-fund awards and one-time funding sources.

Committee discussion focused on transparency and fairness of scoring, whether the 30% cap was being applied consistently, and how to treat organizations that were proposed by Council during budget adjustments but did not formally apply. Some committee members asked for additional financial detail for large requests and for clarity about which awards were ongoing versus one-time. After debate, the committee voted to recommend the staff package presented on the manager’s Slide 8 (with the additions included at the May 19 budget-adjustment discussion) and to forward that recommendation to full Council for final action. The vote was recorded as unanimous in committee.

What’s next: the committee’s recommendation will be included in the full Council’s consideration during upcoming business meetings; staff said one-time funding decisions and long-term alignment with departmental budgets will be reviewed as part of the city’s two-year financial planning process.