HomeMy WebLinkAboutResponse to Constituent Letter - Read Before Packet - 10/08/2024 - Letter from Mayor Jeni Arndt to Human Services and Housing Funding Board re October 3, 2024 memorandum re 2025-2026 City Manager’s Recommended Budget
Mayor
City Hall
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.2154
970.224.6107 - fax
fcgov.com
October 4, 2024
Human Services & Housing Funding Board
c/o Adam Molzer, Staff Liaison
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
Dear Interim Chair Woodfin, Vice-Chair Duval and Board Members:
On behalf of City Council, thank you for providing us with the October 3, 2024 memorandum
regarding the 2025-26 City Manager’s Recommended Budget.
We appreciate you sharing the Board’s support to continue the Human Services Program Grants
budget with the $150,000 that was established in 2018, noting that the local human services and
nonprofit sectors are also preparing for the loss of ARPA funding. Thank you for evaluating this
impact in light of Council Priorities. We will continue to discuss the Budget in the coming
weeks.
Thank you for the expertise and perspectives that you bring to the Board and sharing them with
City Council.
Best Regards,
Jeni Arndt
Mayor
/sek
cc: City Council Members
Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
City Clerk’s Office
300 LaPorte Ave.
580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6515
970.221.6295 - fax
boardsandcommissions@fcgov.com
MEMORANDUM
DATE: October 3, 2024
TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Erma Woodfin, Interim Chair of Human Services & Housing Funding Board
Olga Duval, Vice-Chair of Human Services & Housing Funding Board
RE: Budget Offer NCV 44.3 – Human Services Program Grants
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
On Tuesday, September 11, 2024, the Human Services and Housing Funding Board convened
and discussed concerns raised by the Interim Board Chair regarding the proposed budget,
specifically Budget Offer NCV 44.3: Human Services Program Grants. The proposed budget
does not recommend maintaining the current funding enhancement of $150,000, which is not a
request for new funding but simply the continuation of existing support that has been in place
since 2018. In 2018, a large group of nonprofit leaders advocated for increased funding, and
City Council honored their voices by adding $150,000 to the human service grant budget.
As it is, in 2024, local human service organizations requested $2,029,600 in grant support, and
$920,287 was available to award, leaving $1,109,313 unfunded. Without this funding, our
community will face a $150,000 reduction in human services grants, leaving even more
requests unfunded. As the human services and nonprofit sectors are already preparing for the
loss of ARPA recovery funding in the coming months, this potential reduction would compound
an already challenging funding environment. The organizations receiving these grants address
the priorities of the City and Council, including community safety, services for vulnerable
populations, housing, and diversity. Their work directly advances the goals set forth by the City
and Council.
Furthermore, this Board intends to deepen the impact of grant funding in alignment with the
Human Services Priority Platform. We are excited about these improvements, and now is not
the time to reduce funding when a meaningful shift in priorities, methods, and funding approach
is on the horizon.
We are deeply concerned about the impact this reduction will have on some of our most
vulnerable neighbors and respectfully urge you to reconsider your proposed budget cuts. As
stated above, we are not asking for additional funding but simply for the continuation of the
funding level that has been in place for the past six years.
Thank you for your consideration and willingness to engage on this critical matter.
Respectfully,
The Human Services & Housing Funding Board
Erma Woodfin Olga Duvall Chris Coy Lori Kempter
Mike Kulisheck Michaela Ruppert Jan Stallones Christine Koepnick