Title
Neighborhood Block Watch Grants
Description
This report provides the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee with information concerning the balance available in the Neighborhood Block Watch (NBW) Grant fund, the process and impact of increasing the grant award, and information on items eligible to be purchased with grant funding.
THIS ITEM IS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.
Report
Summary
The NBW Oversight Committee was established to solicit, evaluate, and recommend, to the Mayor and City Council, appropriate proposals to expend funds for the expansion of the Block Watch programs within the limits of the Neighborhood Protection Ordinance. This ordinance, known as Proposition 301, was adopted at a special election held on Oct. 5, 1993. The City Council adopted the format and guidelines for this process on April 26, 1994. The NBW program is administered by the Police Department.
Funding for this grant program comes from an increase in sales tax revenues that was adopted at the special election held on Oct. 5, 1993. As of Dec. 31, 2019, the fund currently has an available balance of $5.9 million. The sales tax revenue is estimated to be $1.8 million per year, the return of unused grant funds and interest is estimated to be $384,000 per year, resulting in an estimated total annual revenue of $2.2 million. The estimated expenditures to fund grant applications is approximately $1.5 million per year (see Attachment A).
Currently, the grant award amount is capped at $10,000 per year as documented in the 2020 Neighborhood Block Watch Grant Program Application Guide. A recommendation to increase the award amount to $12,500 per grant award would require a recommendation by the NBW Oversight Committee to amend the application guide, as well as approval from the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee and the City Council.
On April 10, 2019, the City Council authorized the funding of $1.5 million annually for NBW grants. In FY 2018-19, 172 grant applications were approved. The total amount of the award was $1.45 million. If the $1.5 million annually remained constant, only 120 grants could be approved at the $12,500 award amount. The effect would be a recommendation to increase the amount of funding authorized per year from $1.5 million to $2.15 million per year (an increase of $650,000 per year).
Allowable purchases, prohibited items, and restrictions are listed (see Attachment B). Line item vetoes were prohibited at the recommendation of the NBW Oversight Committee. City Council approved the change at the Oct. 3, 2018 City Council meeting. Any changes to the application guide require a recommendation by the NBW Oversight Committee, as well as approval from the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee and the City Council.
Responsible Department
Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manger Milton Dohoney, Jr. and the Police Department.