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City grants director: Fort Myers has $61M awarded, roughly $200M still pending
Summary
Director of Grants Jessica McElwee told the council the city applied for roughly $362 million in grants in 2023–24 (about $61 million awarded so far) and has approximately $200 million in pending applications; she proposed continuing to pitch city projects and noted significant funding targeted to utilities, public works and parks.
Jessica McElwee, the city’s Director of Grants, delivered a high‑level summary of recent grant activity and follow‑up materials for council. She said the city has submitted applications totaling about $362 million across many programs and has approximately $61 million already awarded. McElwee also said roughly $200 million in grant requests are still pending at the state and federal level.
McElwee summarized departmental breakdowns for the 2023–24 submissions: about 36% for utilities, 19% for public works, 13.8% for parks, with other categories including miscellaneous and public safety. She told council that the city submitted roughly 85 grant applications during that two‑year window (about 3.5 per month) and proposed continuing to align grant efforts with city capital priorities.
Asked for immediate next steps, McElwee noted staff had prepared a spreadsheet and a slide packet for council; she also flagged upcoming federal opportunities tied to hurricanes Milton and Helene and said staff are researching ways to stack grants with Go Bond funding.
McElwee said, “We have approximately from the 2023 and 2024 years, we have approximately 85 grants that have been applied for,” and later clarified, “at a glance we have about $61,000,000 awarded.”
Council thanked staff and asked that a standing summary be provided periodically so residents and council members can track status and next actions.
