Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation seeks to amend Ordinance No. 2499-2023, an “ordinance to authorize the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a not-for-profit service contract with the Tony R Wells Foundation in an amount not to exceed $500,000.00 to provide fiscal agent and other services as a partner in the City of Columbus Small Business Capacity-Building Micro Grants program; to authorize the advancement of funds on a pre-determined schedule during the term of the agreement; to authorize an appropriation and expenditure within the Job Growth subfund; and to declare an emergency. ($500,000.00)”
After Council approved Ordinance 2499-2023, it was discovered that the Ordinance referred to the Tony R Wells Foundation as a “fiscal agent” instead of a “fiscal manager.” As there is a statutory distinction under City Code, this change will bring the legislation into legal compliance.
Further, this legislation will change the legal agreement with the Wells Foundation from that of a not-for-profit service contract to a grant agreement. This change allows for the program to be executed as was detailed in Ordinance No. 2499-2023, including the advance of all funds to the Tony R Wells Foundation.
Emergency action is requested in order to mitigate any negative impact on the planning processes of small business owner recipients. Due to the size of this grant program, applications are expected to come in quickly. The review committee will make all efforts to process and approve applications in an expedient manner in order to avoid any delay in notifying small business owners. Similarly, the Wells Foundation will quickly process applications to send grants to small business owners as quickly as possible. A delay in this process could create confusion, a sense of unreliability, or a gap in expected funding for small business owners.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Title
To amend Ordinance No. 2499-2023 to change the term “fiscal agent” to “fiscal manager” and...
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