by Joel Addington
Contributing Writer
Salvation Army Jacksonville received about $40,000 from the City last year for things like disaster support services, homeless programs and senior assistance.
That number could change, though — if the City Council finalizes a new method for doling out miscellaneous grants.
Legislation introduced by Council member Kevin Hyde would create a Public Service Grant (PSG) Council to oversee allocation of the Council’s lump sum appropriation to private groups providing public services.
Mayor John Peyton and the Cultural Council of Jacksonville oversee the appropriation now.
If the legislation is approved, each year the Council would identify “priority” populations – such as the elderly, homeless or low-income households – and the PSG Council would be responsible for dispersing all grants to organizations serving only those populations.
That may mean more money for groups like the Salvation Army — or maybe less.
“We’re going to do everything we can to recoup (any lost grant funds) and continue to work for the good of the community, regardless of what happens,” said Major Jim Arrowood, Northeast Florida commander for the Salvation Army, who was still familiarizing himself with the changes Wednesday.
And although City grants account for only a small portion of the Salvation Army’s $10 million budget, Arrowood said, “We need every dollar we can get.”
The legislation was referred back to the Council Finance Committee during Tuesday’s full Council meeting for fine tuning of dates to identify priority populations, deadlines for grant applications, and the number of citizens to be appointed to the PSG Council by the mayor and City Council.
The changes offer a mechanism by which to have a greater impact on populations of concern, such as the poor or people with disabilities, said Hyde. This year, the City gave about $6 million in miscellaneous grants to more than 60 different organizations.
“I saw we were appropriating a lot of money to many different groups in small amounts,” he said. “I thought we could better concentrate those funds to more targeted places.”
The new process is very similar to the process by which the Cultural Council of Jacksonville disperses its grants, said Executive Director Robert A. White.
“What it tends to do is depoliticize the process of funding organizations and that’s very important,” he said. “It also protects legislators from being bombarded by various interests and turns over that responsibility to a group that can oversee the needs of the community with respect to the issues of the day.”
Hyde introduced the bill in January and said tax reforms from the state and uncertainty in the City’s budget held up its progression.
“Until we saw that shake out, we didn’t want to spend too much time on it,” he said.
More recently though, Hyde said he’s worked with the mayor’s office and the Non-profit Center of Northeast Florida on the legislation.
“They’ve seen (the latest) draft and all the drafts since the bill was introduced,” said Hyde. “I’ve gotten a lot of input from them.”