For more than two decades, a handful of Sedona organizations have received funding from the city because of their importance to the residents. And while this year is no exception, some belt tightening was requested and received.
The Sedona City Council unanimously approved contracts with five nonprofit organizations for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 in the amount of $956,563 on Tuesday, July 14.
In February, a Service Contract Review Committee made up of Velma Keller, Tom Lamkin, who is now a city councilman, Robin Low, Jeff Mahan, Karla Stamps and Lynn Zonakis reviewed each funding request and held individual meetings with each of the service contract organizations. These one-on-one meetings provided an opportunity for committee members to ask questions and better understand the new funding requests, a city report states.
But then COVID-19 emerged. Each organization was asked to go back and review its request to see where things could be trimmed. They trimmed a combined $63,000 from what was recommended by the citizen committee earlier in the year. This is about $15,000 less than what was awarded last fiscal year.
In the end, council approved the following nonprofits each with a one-year contract:
— Humane Society of Sedona: $66,793
— Sedona Community Center: $179,770
— Sedona Public Library: $485,000
— Sedona Recycles: $175,000
— Verde Valley Caregivers: $50,000
“At the time the committee got together, things looked much different than they do today — clearly,” Lamkin said. “There was money available, things looked pretty good and we felt we should be able to help the people as much as we could.”
At the time, the city even looked at other organizations and services beneficial to the community they may have been able to help fund.
Megan McRae, the city’s management analyst, said each contract contains language that makes annual funding contingent on the availability of funds as provided in the city’s annual budget. This gives the city the ability to modify annual funding amounts at any time should availability of city funds be an issue.
Staff suggested that beginning with next year’s contract review, each organization provide a breakdown of where their clients live within the Verde Valley. This way funding from other sources may be encouraged.
