Marin County Grand Jury
• 2012-2013
The Community Service Funds - The Supplement[PDF]
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 5 findings
F1
The proposed changes to the Community Service Funds program address and eliminate many, but not all, of the deficiencies highlighted in the Grand Jury’s January 2013 report.
F2
The Board of Supervisors and the CAO need to take further steps to ensure that the CSF is implemented on a truly objective basis.
F3
All potentially eligible grant recipients should be made aware of the revised program’s processes.
F4
There appears to be confusion among some of the Supervisors regarding the extent to which they have individual priority “rights” to steer to their Districts some of the $530,000 in surplus funds placed at the end of the Fiscal year in the One-Time Funds account used for broad emergency (or non-repetitive) County disbursement needs.
F5
The revised CSF program is a “work-in-progress” that will be inaugurated for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2013-14. It will be important to monitor and, as appropriate, further modify the program, based on experience.
Recommendations 6
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R1The revised CSF Program specifically prioritizes Countywide projects and grants that have impact on more than one Supervisor District.
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R2The new CSF Program provides grants that are truly for one-time needs, and not for on-going recipient programs.
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R3The revised CSF provides objective criteria that will be used to rank applicants’ requests. Suggested criteria, for instance, might include consistency with the County’s “4-Es” goals and the promotion of that fiscal year’s County Budget’s theme.
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R4The Board of Supervisors launch a publicity campaign well before the start of Fiscal Year 2013-14 that explains the revised CSF Program, its application process and the criteria to be considered for granting monies under the Program.
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R5The CAO (and/or Director of Finance, if appropriate) provide an explanation of the “One-Time Fund” account and the procedures for determining and authorizing expenditures from that account. The explanation should make clear that Supervisors have no preferential District-specific rights to the portion of that account comprised of the $530,000 “surrendered” by the Board of Supervisors from their cumulative unspent CSF monies. The BOS should review and endorse this explanation.
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R6The revised CSF Program to be inaugurated in Fiscal Year 2013-14 be evaluated by the CAO at the end of that Fiscal Year and a Report on its operation be provided to the BOS and posted on the County’s website. The Report should summarize number of applicants, number of applications rejected and reasons for rejection, number of applications granted broken down by sectors that include non-profits, local governments, and any other appropriate categories, and range of dollars granted pursuant to applications received during the Fiscal Year.