American Rescue Plan Act Funding Application

The purpose of this Organizational Support Policy is to aid the maximum number of non-profit organizations and to ensure that the allocations of public funds derived from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) are used strategically to offer services that are better provided by non-profit community partners while creating clear expectations and improved outcomes from the services rendered. It is important that all public funding assigned to outside organizations are distributed and monitored in a transparent and accountable manner on behalf of the citizens of Winter Park.

Organizations that meet the general requirements must complete an application to be considered for funding from the ARPA funds. Complete applications must include answers to all questions and be accompanied by all requested supporting documentation. Applications will be reviewed by the city for completeness and complete applications will be sent to the ARPA Non-Profit Review Committee (the Committee) for consideration. The Committee will rank eligible applications and send a list of recommended recipients and grant amounts to the City Commission for final approval.

The City of Winter Park anticipates that there will be more demand for funding than is available to meet the needs of every applicant. A scoring/ranking system, even split of allocated funding, first-come first-serve, or revised caps on funding support may all be used at the discretion of the city dependent upon the quantity of eligible applications received. All program guidelines are subject to change.

Below is a list of general characteristics that may be considered as part of the process. This list may be refined by members of the Committee/City as deemed necessary. Preference will be given to organizations that:

• Provide services to Winter Park residents that are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
• Serve Winter Park’s most vulnerable populations, low income, seniors, handicapped, unemployed or other underserved residents.
• Have partnered with or assisted other non-profits to provide needed services.
• Have actively provided needed services to Winter Park residents for the longest period of time.

Applicants approved for funding will enter a contractual agreement with the City that outlines general obligations and reporting requirements. The ARPA includes language that may require grant recipients to meet additional financial compliance guidelines including the need for a formal audit if certain thresholds are met. Recipients are expected to be familiar with these requirements and willing to comply with all terms.

If an organization spends over $300k of federal funds in a fiscal year, they may be required to have an audit of not only those funds but also their financial statements, internal controls, and compliance. Please seek legal counsel for any impact.

Approved grants will be disbursed prior to September 30, 2021. Approved organizations will be required to submit a report outlining how funds were utilized. The report must be submitted by September 30, 2022 or earlier if additional guidance from the Federal government becomes available.

An organization will only be considered for funding if they are a 501(c)(3) as evidenced from a copy of a current IRS Determination Letter. Any applicant must also be headquartered within the municipal boundaries of Winter Park and provide direct services to the Winter Park community. Organizations headquartered outside of Winter Park should seek ARPA support from their respective jurisdiction.

The city will not consider any funding request in excess of 50% of the organization’s total annual expenses as noted on their IRS form 990. This ensures that public funding is not the sole support at risk in any organization’s efforts and allows the city to provide a base leverage of at least 1-to-1. If an organization meets all program requirements and has annual operating expenses of less than $50,000, as reported on the most recent IRS form 990, the city may grant up to half of the organization’s operating expenses or $25,000 whichever is lower.

Applicants should understand that this grant application is for a one-time grant process as a result of the city’s access to ARPA funding.  The city is not obligated provide any funding commitments beyond this support cycle.

Organizations applying for support must have at least a three-year history of service in the City of Winter Park. This helps ensure that applicants have been operationally viable and have a history of commitment to the city with a proven record of accomplishment.

It is the City of Winter Park’s assumption that larger organizations have more diverse funding and support options and that this program’s support should be reserved for smaller non-profits in the city. Any organization with annual operating expenses as demonstrated on their most recent IRS form 990 that is larger than $2 million, will not be eligible to apply.

The ARPA requires that any sub-recipient of funding would have to demonstrate detrimental impact from the pandemic. The application will provide an area for the submitting organization to provide their explanation of impact, whether this be estimated revenue loss due to closure, reduced capacity, reduced services, employee layoffs or reductions in grant revenues or some other explanation.

All organizations applying for support should recognize that State of Florida laws stipulate that any correspondence or applications received by the City of Winter Park are subject to public records requests.