Jacksonville City Council is set to consider a proposed ordinance that would allow the city to fund some nonprofits while the federal government is shut down.
Ordinance 2025-0812, proposed by Council member Michael Boylan, would resolve an issue between city ordinance code, the federal government’s Office of Management and Budget, and some local nonprofits over an audit requirement for those organizations to receive funding. Because of the shutdown, the OMB has failed to provide a compliance supplement that the nonprofits must provide to obtain federal grants distributed by the city.
Boylan’s ordinance would apply to Jacksonville nonprofits receiving more than $1 million in federal funds, which are often disbursed through cities and states.
City ordinance requires those organizations to submit what is known as a single audit to the city’s Grants & Contract Compliance Division under the Finance Department. These audits, which are more in-depth than a standard audit, require the compliance supplement from the federal OMB. Under city ordinance, they must be filed within four months of the end of the nonprofits’ fiscal year for the organizations to receive their grants.
Because of the shutdown, OMB has yet to publish the 2025 compliance supplement, meaning nonprofits cannot file their single audits.
Without those audits, nonprofits would go into noncompliance and cannot receive city funds.
Boylan’s bill keeps Jacksonville nonprofits, many of which had their fiscal years end in June, from going into noncompliance.
The bill would allow the affected nonprofits to file OMB’s compliance supplement within 120 days of its completion as opposed to 120 days from the end of the nonprofits’ fiscal year.
The ordinance was filed as an emergency motion, which means it will be discussed during committee hearings on Nov. 3 and 4, and can be voted on by Council on Nov. 12.
Without an extension, Jacksonville’s nonprofits could be looking at rapidly depleting funds. Jacksonville accountant Linda Forde, who specializes in nonprofit work, said the organizations could see higher demand for their services due to the shutdown and related issues such as the federal government’s Nov. 1 freezing of Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
“Many of the nonprofits have three to six months of reserve built into their operating budgets,” Forde said, speaking before Boylan’s bill was introduced. “When SNAP doesn’t process for people here on Saturday, they’re going to have even more people who don’t have the ability to go get groceries.
“It’s going to put an additional strain on the system, so that three to six months may very well become one or two months of funds because of the additional need.”
Six of Forde’s nonprofit clients are affected by the lack of the OMB supplement as of Nov. 1. This includes the Lutheran Social Services food pantry, Northeast Florida AIDS Network, the Clay Behavioral Health Center, the Literary Alliance of Northeast Florida, the Downtown Ecumenical Services Center that provides basic needs to Downtown residents, and Epic-Cure Inc., which works in hunger-prevention with children and veterans.
Without government funding, which can contribute around 15% to 20% of a nonprofit’s revenue, some could face challenges to stay afloat. Forde said she was concerned that a longer shutdown could mean that Jacksonville loses some of its nonprofits.
“They could go away, and it leaves a huge gap in our community,” Forde said. “We could lose critical nonprofit services in our area, if the government stays shut down, and they stay on the noncompliance list for the city.”
Forde expressed support for Boylan’s bill, saying the 120-day grace period would “give everyone enough time to get things completed.”
The ordinance passed the Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee 7-0 with little discussion. It will also appear before the Rules and Finance committees.