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Several partner nonprofits present budget requests; council seeks more detail on staffing and usage data
Summary
Representatives from Rides transit, the Sheldon Golf Course, Mitsu Opportunities (WIC), Upper Des Moines Opportunity and the Family Crisis Center presented service data and requests for city appropriations; council asked clarifying questions about trip counts, client metrics and program funding sources.
Representatives from five partner organizations briefed Sheldon’s council on their services and asked for appropriations during the budget session.
Hugh Lively, who identified himself as CEO at Rides, asked the city to raise its annual contribution to Rides from $25,000 to $35,000 to make up a gap caused by falling Medicaid revenue and increased operating costs; he reported Sheldon logged 5,556 city-only trips last year and said Medicaid reductions and driver shortages are the biggest near-term risks to service.
Larry Smith of the Sheldon Golf Course requested continued support and described a multi-year bridge-replacement effort (five bridges total), noting the final bridge this spring is the most expensive element and critical to continued use for high-school events and youth programming.
Cindy Harpernoff of Mitsu Opportunities—who described WIC and broader community-action services—requested $1,000 for outreach support, explained differences between agency reporting systems and gave monthly-participant figures (about 284 WIC participants per month and roughly 400 unduplicated participants over the year). Shakira Meyer of Upper Des Moines Opportunity reported 100 unduplicated households served in Sheldon by their CSVG system and estimated $26,725 returned to Sheldon’s economy through assistance and energy-program spending.
Tracy Feathers, development director at Family Crisis Center, requested the same $5,000 appropriation as the prior year, outlined the center’s crisis services across 31 counties, and provided service counts (69 Sheldon residents served in-person last fiscal year plus hotline calls). Feathers described a funding mix of state/federal grants, philanthropic support and thrift-store revenue and said services include shelter referrals, supervised visitation and victim compensation assistance.
Council members engaged with the presenters on metrics and funding sources and asked staff to reflect the requests in the draft budget; no final appropriation votes occurred during this meeting, and staff said they will include the requests for council consideration as the budget process continues.
