Lincoln City Council
Aldermen approve structural grant for Community Action for lack of proper language in grant guidelines

 

[October 10, 2024] 

At the Monday night voting session of the Lincoln City Council, Breanne Titus of Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois (CAPCIL) addressed aldermen during public participation regarding the Community Action request for a structural grant for roof repairs to the CAPCIL building on Fifth Street in Lincoln.

Titus began by explaining her role in the agency which includes grant writing. She said she had reached out to Mayor Tracy Welch in September to discuss applying for the city backed structural grant.

She had listened to the meeting of September 24th where there were questions raised about the qualifications for such grants, and also discussions about CAPCIL being grant funded which meant ultimately it is taxpayer funded.

She began by explaining that CAPCIL is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, is a private organization and not a government entity though it does indeed receive government funding for the various programs. She said 75 percent of their money comes from federal grants, 13 percent from state grants. She said the grant funding is very restrictive and does not allow budgeting for structural improvements or major repairs.

Titus said that CAPCIL had applied for a grant through the department of Human Services for a full roof replacement and were denied. They had though received some money from their insurance coverage and had also applied for funding with the county. She said that the repairs had to be done, and somehow the agency’s fiscal team would figure it all out, but if the city could help, it would relieve some of the pressure on the administrative funds allocated to the agency and help some of the programs that are running on very tight budgets to begin with.

Alderman Steve Parrott asked about the insurance money. Titus said that money would go straight to the roof repair. He also asked about the money she said they would figure out if they did not receive the grant. She said that as a 501c3, CAPCIL needs to do fundraising and seek private donations for their match, and they would have to increase that fundraising to help pay the costs of the roof. She said that the fundraisers such as, for example the Cheesburger in Paradise is not restricted on its use.

Alderman Kevin Bateman said he had questioned at the last meeting the grant funding and was concerned about the fact that no matter how you put it, the money is taxpayer money. So the city grant is taxpayer money being paid to a taxpayer funded agency. He added though that within the guidelines in the city’s structural grant application there is nothing to address this particular situation

He said CAPCIL is a 501c3 as is the Lincoln Woman’s Club. The city granted the LWC request, so it is somewhat the same thing. He said he thought the intent of the structural grant was to put money in the hands of businesses owners who were investing in space in town. He then added that he feels the city needs to take a better look at the eligibility rules.

Titus said that yes while CAPCIL is a not for profit, does not pay taxes or property taxes and is grant funded, they also are in the business of helping people in the community, supporting the low income families and the working poor so their work does generate taxes in the long run.

Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs said she agreed with much of what Bateman had said, and that yes, the idea behind the grants was to support local businesses that would bring people and jobs into Lincoln. She also agreed that the committee, of which she is a member needs to look at the guidelines as this is not the first time eligibility has been in question but no guidelines already in place answered the questions.

She went on to say that she respected CAPCIL and knows they do important things in the community. She said because she felt the guidelines were not adequate, she would abstain from the vote on CAPCIL.

Later in the meeting the agenda item came up for motion with that motion made by Alderman Sam Downs and seconded by Alderwoman Robin McClallen.

Bateman spoke again saying that he would vote yes for the grant to CAPCIL. He said however, he would like to put a pause on any further grants until the guidelines are figured out. Parrott agreed with that thought.

Treasurer Chuck Conzo said that aldermen should be careful not to confuse “non profit” and government funded. He said there were a lot of groups that were not for profit and were not government funded, so the aldermen should remember that is two different things.

He added that some time ago a discussion came about where that it was stated that the council should be careful to not consider what type of business was in a building and to instead consider the building and the condition it is in because the building would remain if the business were gone.

Conzo commented that going forward, one key factor the aldermen might consider is if the building or business is going to generate tax revenue for the city. He then said that ultimately CAPCIL does do that through workforce training that enables people to secure jobs and pay income taxes.

Rohlfs said she had not considered that perspective, that the grants were preserving the buildings. She said that was important. She also said that she completely agreed with Bateman that the process should be suspended until the committee and the council have reviewed the guidelines and taken these things into consideration.

Parrott said he thought maybe a key word to consider is commercial. He said there are schools and churches that are in the same situation as CAPCIL seeking donations and other funding for projects. But if the city wants to maintain a standard, saying that the grants will go only to commercial properties could be a big part of that.

Welch said that he agreed that there should be better language and wondered if the aldermen needed to vote to suspend the applications until the questions had been resolved. The answer was that it would be at the discretion of the Economic Development Committee to suspend the applications.

Discussion continued for several minutes about how to address the current guidelines.

After some time, the question of whether or not to grant the funding request for CAPCIL was brought to a vote.

All eight members of the council were present for a vote that passed 6-0-2.

Those voting yes included Bateman, Downs, McClallen, Rhonda O’Donoghue, Parrott, and David Sanders. Craig Eimer and Rohlfs both abstained from the vote.

[Nila Smith]