Chandler mulls changes in its use of nonprofits

Apr. 21—The City of Chandler asks nonprofits to do some of the work that helps maintain a high quality of life because they have more experience in certain areas.

"Chandler has a unique relationship with the nonprofits here, and I hear that all the time from our nonprofits," said Leah Powell, the city's neighborhood resources director. "Our culture in Chandler is different than other cities because we work so collaboratively."

Now, the city is considering major changes to how it distributes about $2 million a year to nonprofits doing work on behalf of Chandler. The biggest changes involve focusing more dollars on core needs, and that aligning the process for requesting money with the city's normal procurement procedures.

If adopted, it means nonprofits will have a better idea of how much money is available and what they qualify for and they will be able to get it sooner, Powell said.

The city has been awarding money to nonprofits that provide services since 1987. Since then, the core needs have rarely changed.

That is the case this year.

The four core needs Powell outlined are rent and utility assistance; medical dental and mental health service for youth; childcare and after school programming at youth facilities; and meals for older adults.

Under a proposal introduced at a council study session, the city would break down funding into four core needs and then a category for more general needs. It would create two pots of money for each and ask nonprofits to bid on providing services in those areas.

A single nonprofit could not get more than a certain percentage of one of those pots. Officials spoke of between 10 to 20% being the capped amount.

Nonprofits awarded money to address core needs would be able to apply again in a streamlined application process the following year for up to five years. There is no guarantee the money will be awarded again, but it will mean less paperwork.

Those applying for general needs would need to submit a full application every year.

The city plans to spend just over $1 million of its General Fund each year for these services. When times are good and the city has extra one-time dollars, that allocation would be bumped up.

The total was $2 million last year and is expected to be about the same this year, although Council has yet to vote on that.

How that is split between core and general services will be flexible, depending on the requests that come in. If 40% of the requests for money involve serving core needs, then rest would eb allocated for more general services.

However, Powell said staff is requesting some flexibility there. She is asking Council to allow the committee that decides which nonprofits get how much money to adjust that, within 10%, based on the needs it sees.

The evaluation committee includes some members of the city's Housing and Human Health Services Commission and an equal number of experts in the community.

Another proposed change involves terminating the public hearing the city has been holding before awarding this money. It was not required and Council would still make the final decision on money.

Powell also asked Council to increase the base amount it awards each year to give the nonprofits more certainty. So instead of $1 million from the General Fund and $1 million from one-time dollars, she asked that all the money from the General Fund.

Mayor Kevin Hartke indicated he may not be ready to do that yet.

The city recently lost $11 million in revenue when the state legislature ended the housing rental tax. And the construction at the Intel Ocotillo plant that has been the major cause of all the extra one-time dollars will end at some point, possibly in 2026.

With the city's finance office becoming involved, there will be another major change for nonprofits seeking money. In the past, city staffers would work with them on their applications if there were problems. That won't be the case going forward.

It will resemble the city's procurement procedures, where a nonprofit's application has to be in order to be considered. Powell is asking Council for $160,000 so the city can train nonprofits, especially newer ones that will be applying for the first time.

The benefit of the new procedures would be nonprofits will find out sooner how much money they are getting and would the checks on July 1. Currently, the paperwork had to be adjusted after the council decided how much to award to each nonprofit, and it would often take months before they received funds.

Recently about 60 nonprofits applied for funds.

None of this would take this year, where the process has already begun under the old procedures. If Council approves, it would start next year. The city will issue a request for proposals in January, and nonprofits would have about 30 days to submit applications.

Evaluations would take place in March and April, with Council's expected approval in May. That would allow the money to be released on the first day of the new fiscal year.

To make that all happen, Council will have to commit to a final amount for distribution before January — much sooner than is done now.

"It's been positive feedback we've been hearing from the nonprofits," Powell said. "The belief is with this new process, we will help stabilize what the request could be, because we ultimately hope to get to a very stable base number.

"And then the other piece of it is we want to have efficiency in the process itself, especially when it comes to the payments, and even the interaction, the back and forth that we're having to do with the agencies now."