The Alachua County Commission reviewed how nonprofit programs designed to reduce poverty receive county funding but agreed to keep funding limits in place at a special meeting Tuesday at the County Administration Building.
Programs sponsored by non-profit agencies with a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status receive funding through the county's Community Agency Partnership Program.
To receive funding, agencies can propose up to two programs for either poverty reduction or art and culture enrichment for underprivileged residents.
Each program can receive up to $75,000.
The Commission voted to keep the funding limits in place but wanted to review the process used to approve agencies' programs.
Agencies must attend a pre-application workshop, submit a written application and give an oral presentation for funding approval.
Between the written application and oral presentation, there are 15 criteria the advisory board uses to assess eligibility for funding, one of which is proposed budgets for programs.
Commissioner Rodney Long expressed doubts about a proposal from the partnership program to weigh budget proposals heavier than other application criteria.
"Weight becomes subjective to people, especially when funding is competitive," he said.
There were also concerns about the way funding is disbursed.
Currently, the partnership program gives different percentages of the $75,000 limit to agencies based on scores from the application process.
Commissioner Mike Byerly suggested an "all-or-none" system, with a smaller number of total agencies receiving the full $75,000 instead of many agencies receiving different percentages of funding.
"It's about the programs, not the agencies," he said. "Not everybody gets a little something."
Other commissioners, including Commissioner Cynthia Moore Chestnut, disagreed with the all-or-none approach.
Chestnut said agencies skilled in grant writing may receive preferential treatment over less sophisticated agencies with equally beneficial programs.
The Commission agreed to discuss criteria for funding, as well as further expenditure limits for poverty reduction programs, at a later meeting on Feb. 3.
