Explanation
This year's campaign marks the 21st anniversary of City of Columbus employees participating in a Combined Charitable Campaign. The Combined Charitable Campaign is a citywide collaborative effort that provides employees the opportunity to make donations to charitable organizations through payroll deduction or one time contributions. The City's annual Combined Charitable Campaign allows qualified multi-charity federations and "write-in" donor choice organizations, access to our work place for the purpose of soliciting charitable contributions from City employees while minimizing work place disruption and administrative costs. This year's campaign includes over 190 health and human services agencies from around Ohio.
Examples of direct health and human services are programs aimed at one or more of the following:
· health support and services
· research or education in the health fields
· safety and protective services for children and adults
· food and nutrition services
· preparation and delivery of meals
· adult, family and child care
· foster care for children and adults
· programs for school age children with special needs
· home management and maintenance
· transportation services
· information, referral and counseling services
· emergency shelter, care and relief
· adoption assistance
· neighborhood and community agency
· services to meet recreational and cultural needs
· social adjustment and rehabilitation services
· the protection, preservation or restoration of the air, water and land, if they provide direct benefits to individuals
· the preservation of the rights of animals that provide a direct benefit to individuals.
During the campaign, presentations to employees reflect all health and human services agencies participating in the campaign. For the purposes of the CCC, health and human services are any combination of programs designed to meet the needs of adult, children and youth, the ill and infirm, the mentally and physically handicapped, the elderly, poor, minorities or women.
The City's annual Combined Charitable Campaign enables us to bring together Labor and Management who all have a stake in the community to go one step further in voluntarily supporting the needs of others. As the collective branch of government that is charged with leading this city, there are times when we simply need to support what is already working. Over the past 20 years City of Columbus employees have voluntarily donated over $4 million through one time donations, fund raising activities and payroll deductions.
In previous years, and under the current contract, costs for campaign coordination services have been withheld from employee contributions designated for a charitable agency or federation. Each agency that is receiving donations has its share of the costs withheld from the first distribution. This effectively reduces the funds that reach the employee's designated charity.
For this purpose the City of Columbus will bear the costs of the campaign, ensuring that all monies deducted from an employee's paycheck reaches its designated agency.
Title
To authorize the Director of the Department of Human Resources to modify an existing contract with the United Way of Central Ohio for the purpose of providing coordination services for the City of Columbus 2013 Combined Charitable Campaign; to authorize the expenditure of $35,332.00 from the Employee Benefits Fund; and to declare an emergency. ($35,332.00)
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus is currently in contract with the United Way of Central Ohio for the purpose of providing coordination services for the City of Columbus 2013 Combined Charitable Campaign; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of City of Columbus and its employees to fund this campaign to ensure that donations made by employees are reaching the employee's designated charity; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the City in that it is immediately necessary to modify an existing contract the United Way of Central Ohio in order to provide the coordination services for the City of Columbus 2013 Combined Charitable Campaign, thereby preserving the public health, peace, property, safety and welfare;. Now therefore;
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the Director of the Department of Human Resources is authorized and directed to modify an existing contract with the United Way of Central Ohio for the purpose of providing coordination services for the City of Columbus 2013 Combined Charitable Campaign.
SECTION 2. That for the purpose cited in Section 1 of this ordinance, the expenditure of $35,332.00 or so much thereof as may be necessary is hereby authorized to be expended from the Employee Benefits Fund as follows:
Fund: Employee Benefits Fund 502 | Department: Human Resources 46 | Division: 46-02 | OBL 3: 3336 | OCA: 450882
SECTION 3. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves or vetoes the same.