R05-012
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2 RESOLUTION NO. 05- ot~
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5 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
6 CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, APPROVING
7 AND ADOPTING GRANT FUNDING POLICIES;
8 PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
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11 WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Boynton Beach desires to create
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12 policies governing all grants which are awarded by the City to outside individuals and
13 þrganizations; and
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15 WHEREAS, the City Commission intends for the following policies to cover all
16 ~nstances when the City Commission approves distribution of public funds to individuals or other
17 fgal entities, with the exception of distribution of Community Investment Funds by the City
18 ommission which are regulated by the procedures set forth in Resolution R03-137.
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20 . WHEREAS, the grant funding policies adopted by the City should clearly indicate that
21 are intended to be supplemental and subordinate to federal regulations as they pertain to the
22 DBG program funding.
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24 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
25 ITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, THAT:
26 Section 1. The foregoing whereas clauses are true and correct and are now ratified and
27 onfirmed by the City Commission.
28 Section 2. The City Commission of the City of Boynton Beach, Florida hereby
29 pproves and adopts the following Grant Funding Policies:
30 GRANT FUNDING POLICIES
31 ntent
32 It is the intent of the City Commission by adopting the following polices that the City
33 mplement grant application, evaluation, letting, and monitoring procedures that:
34 (a) Establish a process for announcing the availability of grant funds, the purposes for
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1 which they can be used, and the procedures for making application for those
2 funds.
3 (b) Encourage eligible individuals and organizations to seek appropriate funding from
4 the City.
5 (c) Provide a level playing field for consistent information to grant applicants. I
6 (d) Require full documentation of the process from time of announcement to time of
7 completion of the project funded by a City grant.
8 (e) Require transparency of the grant decision making process so that it is clear why
9 some applicants are successful in obtaining grant funding and why others are not.
10 (f) Require objective decision making on the part of City staff involved in the grant
11 application evaluation process.
12 (g) Describe the role of the City Commission in authorizing project or social service
13 funding with public funds.
14 (h) Insure that limitations or conditions on the use of public funds obtained by
15 applicants through the City's grant letting process are consistent with state and
16 federal rules and regulations.
17 (i) Establish accountability by all individuals involved in grant funding.
18 (j) Describe the responsibilities of the City staff in monitoring the use of grant funds.
19 (k) Require the City staff to maintain accurate grant records and provide for reports to
20 the City Commission the use and availability of funds.
21 The foregoing objectives, and the following policies should be viewed as supplemental
22 and subordinate to state and/or federal regulations pertaining to CDBG funds. In the event
23 of a conflict between what is required by state or federal regulation and what is required
24 by theses policies, state and federal regulations control.
25 oles and Responsibilities
26 City Commission- The City Commission shall be responsible for:
27 (a) Establishing by resolution general policies to ensure accountability for the use of
28 public dollars obtained through grant programs regardless of the source of funds.
29 (b) Appropriate funds in the City's annual budget to provide funds or matching funds
30 for projects or services which benefit the community.
31 (c) Appropriate funds in the City's annual budget for administrative costs necessary
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1 to manage the City's grant programs.
2 (d) Review and act on recommendation from the City's professional staff on issues
3 regarding grant administration and distribution.
4 Staff- The City's staff is responsible for:
5 (a) Gathering information of the availability of County, State, Federal, or private
6 grant opportunities and report that information to the City Manager and the City
7 Commission.
8 (b) Day to day administration of the City's grant programs, including, but not limited
9 to, promoting grant programs, education regarding the grant application process,
10 application assistance, evaluation of applicants, recommendation of funding
11 awards, management of grant funds consistent with state and federal rules and
12 regulations, monitoring of grant contracts, preparation of reporting documents,
13 interfacing with regulatory personnel from other agencies, and periodically
14 reporting to the City Commission the status of programs funded through the
15 City's grant program.
16 (c) Maintaining and report the availability of funds.
17 (d) Maintaining accurate and current information on the expenditure of all grant
18 dollars, the status of pending grants, and grant monitoring.
19 (e) Processing requests for public records in cooperation with the City Clerk.
20 (f) Providing, through the City Manager, information requested by City
21 Commissioners.
22 (g) Developing a grant information system, which is accessible through the City's
23 web page. The infonnation provided shall include a summary of questions asked
24 by grant applicants and answers provided by City staff.
25 City Manager- The City Mffianager is responsible for:
26 (a) Oversight of the City staff.
27 (b) Designating or appointing City staff to administer the City's grant programs.
28 (c) Requesting, in his/her annual budget, funds to provide grant opportunities and for
29 grant administration.
30 (d) Coordinating hislher staffs periodic reports to the City Commission.
31 City Attorney-The City Attorney is responsible for:
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1 (a) Reviewing and approving all forms used in the grant application process.
2 (b) Preparing agreements with grant recipients.
3 (c) Advising the City Manger, City staff and City Commission on issues of law that
4 impact the City's grant program or grant agreements.
5 General policies
6 (a) Access to funding
7 (1) The City staff should will announce and publish all funding opportunities, I
8 through public announcements, postings, explanatory leaflets, targeted
9 mailing to local organizations, press releases to the media, and other
10 means that might expand the base of applicants who desire to serve the
11 community through the use of public funds. This is particularly important
12 where a funding opportunity is available for the first time, during annual
13 renewal, or where the terms of funding are revised.
14 (2) Interested parties should be able to find out easily what the funds are
15 available and what those funds will and will not support; key conditions of
16 funding; exclusions; the likely scale of competition for funds; any upper or
17 lower limits on grant size; how to apply for a grant; how the applications
18 will be handled; and how long it will take to reach a decision. Each
19 enquirer should be provided with a clear funding timetable that sets out the
20 City's calendar of key deadlines in the funding process.
21 (3) Information should be disseminated early enough to allow time for
22 applications to be prepared, taking into account the circumstances of
23 potential applicants. City staff should act in the role of facilitator of the
24 application process, not as a gatekeeper. Each enquirer should be treated as I
25 an equal in the application process.
26 (4) Funding application forms and accompanying instructions should be clear
27 and user-friendly and any additional documentation required should be
28 specified. Where application forms are not used, guidance notes or a
29 simple information checklist should be provided. Examples of previous
30 forms which resulting in funding should be provided to interested parties
31 to illustrate the content of a successful application.
32 (5) City staff should consider ,yhether special steps are requircd to ensure fair
33 and equal access to information and funding consistent with applicable
34 State , County, and Federal regulations. across geographical areas; for
35 ethnic or racial minority groups; for groups from different religious and
36 cultural backgrounds; for disadvantûged groups; ûnd for those '.vith special
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1 needs whom the City purticularly '.vi shes to reach. The City Manager I
2 should establish oversight procedures to monitor the effectiveness of this
3 approach.
4 (6) The City Commission, following a recommendation from City staff,
5 should consider whether they can produce bilingual information and forms
6 and be prepared to assist non-English speaking applicants to complete the
7 City's applications
8 (7) The City staff should maintain a list of the name, address and telephone
9 number of all individuals who make mqUIry regarding funding
10 opportunities and a procedure for follow up with those individuals should
11 be developed as a means of measuring the success of City's procedures.
12 The success of the City's funding procedures should be measure not only
13 by those who are successful in the funding process, but also by
14 understanding why those who sought funding and were not able to obtain
15 funding failed.
16 I (b) Processing grant applications
17 (1) Timetables and procedures for processing applications should be set and
18 publicized, with particular emphasis on deadlines and the reason for them.
19 (2) The City staff should identify clearly the information that they wish to
20 collect and how that information will be used in the decision-making
21 process. Information concerning the applicant's objectives; experience of
22 related work; the purpose and expected outcome of the work to be funded;
23 financial competence; and current financial position should be completely
24 documented and verified. Documentation of this information is critical to
25 evaluating and verifying the effectiveness of the decision-making process.
26 (3) Completed grant applications should be acknowledged on receipt. When a
27 grant applicant is reviewed and it is determined that necessary information
28 is lacking, the applicant shall be contacted personally and advised of the
29 deficiencies. Except for CDBG grants, which have a more specitic tiling
30 process and special checklist system, +lhe deadlines timetable for
31 processing fer applications should be set to allow one short period of time
32 for correction or supplementation prior to the final submission deadline.
33 (4) Applicants should be made aware of suitable sources of advice and help
34 with their applications. City staff should conduct at least one ( 1) technical
35 assistance workshop in advance of the application deadline.
36 (5) The City should maintain a list of the name, address and telephone number
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1 of all applicants as well as the time and date of tiling. The City staff
2 should develop a procedure for follow up with those individuals should be
3 developed as a means of measuring the success of City's procedures. The
4 success of the City's funding procedures should be measure not only by
5 those who are successful in the funding process, but also by understanding
6 why those who sought funding and were not able to obtain funding failed.
7 (c) Decision-making
8 (1) The City staff should have clear written criteria for making grant decisions.
9 The City Commission should be advised of the proposed criteria prior to it
10 being announced to the public or incorporated in application documents or
11 grant agreements.
12 (2) The criteria for approving or rejecting an applicant should be objective and not
13 subjective. These should cover the extent of any delegated authority, the
14 timetable, the criteria for approval, and any training or special expertise
15 required for the decision-making process.
16 (3) Staff evaluators and their supervisors shall consider whether arrangements
17 should be made to avoid any appearance of improper conflict of interest
18 arising for those involved in decision- making.
19 (4) Applicants should be notitied of decisions as soon as possible.
20 (5) For successful applications, where funding is requested for a specific period
21 (eg a financial year), it may be helpful to give a provisional indication of the
22 grant as far in advance of the start of the period as possible, but a definite
23 figure should be confirmed not later than the start of the period.
24 (6) City staff shall write to all unsuccessful applicants to give the principal
25 reasons for a refusal to make a grant.
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27 (d) Selecting whom to fund
28 (1) Applications should be judged on substance rather than presentation,
29 except to the extent that presentation is material.
30 (2) City staff should consider whether voluntary organizations should be
31 encouraged to seek funding from a range of sources, recognizing that such
32 encouragement may in different circumstances constitute a reasonable
33 challenge or an unreasonable burden. Where matching funding is required,
34 staff should consider the economic value of volunteering and of
35 community activity and self-help. The City staff and City Commission
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1 should be careful to aveitl-avoid !double funding I
2 (3) The City staff should require evidence of a voluntary organization's
3 commitment to equal opportunities in terms of their own personnel
4 policies and the delivery of services to their clients.
5 (4) The City staff should consider the extent and nature of the contribution
6 that volunteers and users might make to the proposed activity where this is
7 consonant with wider policy objectives.
8 (5) Following evaluation of applicants by the City staff, the City staff shall
9 forward a recommendation to the City Commission through the City
10 Manager. The recommendation shall contain sufficient justification for the
11 rejection of any application.
12 (6) Final approval of funding is reserved to the City Commission.
13 (e) Payment procedures
14 (1) There should be written confirmation of the grant offer and any conditions
15 before any payment is made. It may also be appropriate to confirm the
16 applicant's acceptance of these conditions. The City Attorney shall review
17 and approve all contracts between the City and an applicant.
18 (2) Grant conditions should clearly state the amount, purpose and duration of
19 the grant; the arrangements for payment; the monitoring and evaluation
20 arrangements which apply; the limitation on the use of the funds, if any,
21 and the circumstances in which funding might be terminated.
22 -<3) The City staff should recognize that some organizations cannot function
23 'Nithout receiving payments in advance, and should malce suitable
24 arrangements 'shere possible. The City staff should also be aware of the
25 problems for grunt recipients that may be caused by departure from any
26 agreed schedule of payments.
27 (f) Monitoring & evaluation
28 (1) Appropriate measures of performance (iei.e. monitoring) and
29 outcome/output (iei.e. evaluation) should be agreed at the outset with all
30 organizations receiving funding. These should conform to clear policy
31 objectives for the overall grant scheme.
32 (2) Monitoring should not become an excessive burden on either the City staff
33 or the grant recipient funded, but should be appropriate to the level and
34 type of funding provided, the nature of service required, and the need to
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1 ensure proper accountability for the expenditure of public dollars.
2 (3) The City staff should evaluate grant fund expenditure in accordance with
3 these policies, the grant contract documents and applicable county, state,
4 or federal laws and regulations. City grant agreements should require grant
5 recipients to use self- evaluation and periodically report to the City staff
6 the use of funds and level of services provided with those funds. Where
7 appropriate, the City, through inter-local agreement or informal
8 understanding, should act in consort with any other private or public
9 entities supporting a grantee~s activities. I
10 I (4) The City staff shall request appropriate levels of financial information and
11 should require independent verification of accounts, through audit &and or I
12 independent examination.
13 (5) The City Attorney shall ensure that all grant agreements contain provisions
14 for terminating funding in the event of unsatisfactory performance or
15 breach of grant conditions.
16 (g) Dissemination
17 (1) The City shall require all grant recipients to disseminate the results of
18 projects or services funded and if necessary should make provision in the
19 grant agreement for dissemination.
20 (2) The City staff should disseminate to the public at least once annually the
21 results of project or services funded with public dollars.
22 (h) Changes to funding
23 (1) The City staff should give as much notice as possible of any changes in
24 grant scheme policy or management arrangements.
25 (2) Voluntary organizations should be consulted prior to any changes in their
26 funding position, which arise from evaluations of individual grants.
27 (3) The City staff should ensure that decisions on funding are taken well
28 before arrangements have to be made to terminate a service.
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30 Section 3. Should any section or provision of this Resolution or portion hereof, any
31 aragraph, sentence or word be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such
32 ecision shall not affect the remainder of this Resolution.
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2 Section 4. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon passage.
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4 PASSED AND ADOPTED this ¡ 5' day of Ma..reh ,2005.
5 CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA
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