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Winchester creates Downtown Development Investment Fund board; community foundation will administer grants
Summary
The City of Winchester approved an ordinance establishing a Downtown Development Investment Fund (DDIF) board and appointed members recommended by the Bluegrass Community Foundation; the foundation emphasized IRS compliance and broader eligibility to meet donor intent for downtown façade and business assistance grants.
The Winchester City Commission voted to create a Downtown Development Investment Fund board and appointed five members recommended by the Bluegrass Community Foundation, moving to broaden eligibility for downtown grant awards while keeping donor intent in mind.
Hayley Cunningham of the Bluegrass Community Foundation told commissioners the DDIF fund, established in February, will be administered by the foundation to ensure IRS rules and charitable donor intent are honored. "We are here to serve as administrators of the fund to ensure that those initial donors' intent continue to be met with grant making that happens out of the fund, and to ensure that our IRS regulations are also met," Cunningham said.
Cunningham said the initial donor intent focused on historic preservation and economic development of the historic downtown Winchester area and that federal charity rules require a sufficiently large class of eligible beneficiaries. To comply, the foundation recommended opening eligibility to the full historic downtown area rather than narrow street-by-street criteria so grants cannot be seen as benefiting only one or two private individuals.
Following Cunningham's presentation, the commission approved by motion the ordinance creating Article 6, Division 6, Downtown Development Investment Fund Board in the Winchester Code of Ordinances. The commission then approved appointments to the new board, naming Randy Brookshire to a three-year term, Will Grant to a two-year term, Allison Roberts to a one-year term, Rhonda Simmons to a two-year term, and Tracy Goebel (the Community Foundation's recommendation) to a three-year term.
Commission discussion included conflict-of-interest safeguards: board members who own or have an interest in downtown property would be expected to recuse themselves from votes affecting their own properties. Cunningham said the foundation can provide technical assistance to facilitate private donations but will not micromanage grant decisions.
The ordinance and appointments set the administrative framework for the DDIF; commissioners said the board will meet soon after appointments are finalized. The commission also instructed staff to make the recusal expectations and grant priorities clear to potential board members.
