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Council hears requests to boost grant pools and reviews cost allocation plan update
Summary
City staff and committee representatives told the council that 2026 grant requests outstripped available funds (about 54% funded) and recommended increasing general‑fund and lodging‑tax grant pools by $25,000 each for 2027; staff also presented a redline update to the city's cost allocation plan and described new time‑tracking to allocate personnel costs across funds.
An economic development representative told the study session that in the 2026 grant cycle available funds met only about 54% of applicants’ requests, and recommended increasing both the general fund grant pool and the lodging‑tax fund by $25,000 to better meet expected demand in 2027. The representative said funding increases could raise the proportion of requests funded to roughly 75% if application volume resembles 2026.
Councilmembers discussed timing and noted that any change would be considered in the 2027 budget process; staff clarified that the proposed increases are planning assumptions for the 2027 grant cycle and that actual budget increases would be set during formal budget adoption next year.
Finance staff then presented a redlined update to the city's cost allocation plan—a technical document that apportions personnel and overhead costs across funds. Staff explained definitions used in the plan (allocation base, fund activity operating expenditures), described how some positions are allocated by FTE and operational expenditure percentages, and noted the city’s new timesheet system is designed to capture detailed daily allocations (by half‑hour or 15‑minute increments) so charges can be posted accurately to the appropriate fund.
Staff said the revised allocation plan is planned for formal action at the July 14 council meeting and that detailed spreadsheets tying positions to fund impacts would be available for council review; no formal action on the grant pools or cost allocation update occurred during the study session.
