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Council hears three options for expanding outside‑agency funding during FY26 budget
Summary
Budget staff outlined three options — a general competitive pool, allocation by strategic priority area, or outcome‑sourcing tied to the city strategic plan — and noted tradeoffs between flexibility, equity and staff capacity; staff said no decision is needed today.
Budget staff reviewed the city’s outside‑agency funding program, the 2008 policy that narrowed funding to agencies with a governmental nexus, and three options for opening funding to additional community organizations during the FY26 budget process.
"This afternoon's discussion explores council's expressed interest in expanding the contributions to outside agency grant program and to obtain guidance on its expansion," Budget Manager Lori Green said. Green reviewed the program’s history, noting the 2008 change that limited outside agency allocations to services that the city would otherwise provide and that one recent addition was the state‑mandated Peninsula Alcohol Safety Action Program.
Staff presented three expansion options: (1) create a general funding pool awarded competitively during the fiscal year that would allow flexibility but could be exhausted early; (2) allocate funding by strategic priority area to ensure coverage across priorities but reduce flexibility; or (3) adopt an outcome‑sourcing model tied to the completed strategic plan to target funds to priority outcomes, which would require reporting and more staff time. The city manager and councilmembers noted city grants funded from ARPA dollars had earlier been used to support grassroots anti‑gun‑violence programs and that any policy change would require application deadlines in November–December for evaluation ahead of the February budget ranking session.
Council members asked how existing outside agencies are evaluated and whether emergent organizations can be considered; staff said applicants are periodically reevaluated and that council could choose whether to open a competitive process or set aside funding by priority area. No vote was taken; staff will return with implementation details if council elects to change the policy.
