City suspends nonprofit funding, pays scholarships

Maricopa let go of its vision of funding nonprofits … for now.

The city council voted to suspend the program until funding is more secure. Had the city approved the requested funds from its Non-Profit Funding Program, it would have cost $281,450.

“If we continued with funding $300,000 approximately, we would be $300,000 in the hole,” Mayor Christian Price said. “Until we know the true amount from the formula the state is working on –unfortunately, they don’t even know how the formula works, which is very frustrating to us… — we don’t have a lot of choice here.”

Twelve local nonprofit organizations had applied and been evaluated by a committee, with Against Abuse Inc. ranking No. 1.

“Almost $2 million has been struck from the budget this year out of a $30 million budget,” Price said. Half of that goes to police and fire services.

He said the city should know mid-year exactly how much the state would be withholding. Then, he said, the city would have “a new position to bargain from.”

Meanwhile, he and the rest of the council felt it most prudent to suspend the Non-Profit Funding Program. If the city gets more money than expected, the council could go back and restore some funding to the nonprofits.

Councilmember Nancy Smith suggested the city could be a middle agent for the nonprofits to apply for the Proposition 202 funds from the Tohono O’odham Nation. She showed a letter from the nation administration expressing interest in forming partnerships for nonprofits to apply for that money.

The council did approve two requests for the Maricopa Academic Scholarship Match Program. The Maricopa Rotary Club received $3,000, and the Maricopa Friends of the Library received $2,000.

The culmination of the Rotary’s $3,000 fund-raising effort came only a day before the council meeting with a raffle drawing at UltraStar Multi-tainment Center. The matching funds from the city allowed the 10-member club to deliver four scholarships Thursday night at Maricopa High School’s Evening of Honors. The Rotary announced a $3,000 scholarship, a $2,000 scholarship and two $250 scholarships.