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Decatur council adopts $70,000 community grant program with reporting, clawback rules
Summary
The Decatur City Council adopted program criteria and authorized $70,000 in grants (seven $10,000 awards) for community organizations, requiring applicants not already receiving city funds to sign funding agreements with deliverables, reporting and clawback provisions. Debate focused on whether to delay expenditures pending the state budget.
The Decatur City Council on March 2026 approved a City Council Community Grant Program that will make seven $10,000 awards, for a total allocation of $70,000, and authorized staff to expend the funds for fiscal year 2026.
City Manager Ms. Hahn told the council the program’s application and evaluation criteria bar applicants who are already receiving city funds and require recipients to sign a funding agreement that includes deliverables, reporting deadlines and a repayment or clawback provision for nonperformance. "A grant will not be awarded to applicants already receiving funds from the city," she said, and applicants will be limited to applying every other funding cycle and must submit a mid‑year and final report.
Council debate centered on timing. Councilman Cooper urged caution, saying council should consider potential state budget cuts that could affect local revenues and suggested delaying allocation until after the state budget is finalized. "I would prefer to wait on making this decision or allocating the funds until after we see what the state budget looks like," he said. Councilman Horn and others countered that local organizations face immediate needs; Horn noted that community groups such as Dove Incorporated and Good Samaritan Inn had already indicated urgent funding needs and argued the $70,000 represents a small fraction of a roughly $98 million municipal budget.
A motion to table the authorization of expenditures until July 1 failed on a 3–4 roll call. The council then approved the expenditure authorization by a 4–3 vote, allowing staff to begin the grant award process. Ms. Hahn said that council would approve final awards once applications are reviewed.
The program as approved also allows the council to change award increments in future cycles if council so chooses, and staff said the intent of the fixed $10,000 increment was to provide clarity to applicants. The city will require disclosure of organizational audits or third‑party financial statements as part of the application package.
Next steps: staff will open the application cycle per the approved evaluation criteria and return to council with award recommendations for final approval.
