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To amend Ord. No. 2026-063, adopted May 11, 2026, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 General Fund Budget and made appropriations pursuant thereto, by (i) modifying the name of certain line items in the attachment entitled “General Fund Budget, Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations, July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027,” (ii) transferring and appropriating certain funds from certain Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations line items to such modified line items, (iii) transferring and appropriating the remaining funds from such modified lines items to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, and (iv) authorizing the Chief Administrator Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute the necessary documents to effect such appropriations, all for the purpose of providing grants to certain entities and providing funding to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for the procurement of administration services for such grants.
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THE CITY OF RICHMOND HEREBY ORDAINS:
§ 1. That Article I, Section 1 of Ordinance No. 2026-063, adopted May 11, 2026, which adopted a General Fund Budget for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, and made appropriations pursuant thereto, is hereby amended by:
(a) Modifying the name of the following line items in the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency:
(1) The Reserve for Economic Mobility Grants is hereby named “United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg - Economic Mobility Grantmaking;”
(2) The Reserve for Children & Families Grants is hereby named “United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg - Children and Families Grantmaking;”
(3) The Reserve for Health Grants is hereby named “Richmond and Henrico Public Health Foundation - Health Grantmaking;”
(4) The Reserve for Arts & Culture Grants is hereby named “CultureWorks - Arts and Culture Grantmaking;” and
(b) Transferring funds in the following amounts and appropriating such funds to the below line items for the following purposes:
(1) $1,465,856.00 from the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency Reserve for Economic Mobility Grants line item to the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency “United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg - Economic Mobility Grantmaking” line item for the purpose of making a grant to the United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg;
(2) $625,000.00 from the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency Reserve for Children & Families Grants line item to the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency “United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg - Children and Families Grantmaking” line item for the purpose of making a grant to the United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg;
(3) $1,148,000.00 from the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency Reserve for Health Grants line item to the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency “Richmond and Henrico Public Health Foundation - Health Grantmaking” line item for the purpose of making a grant to the Richmond and Henrico Public Health Foundation;
(4) $601,400.00 from the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency Reserve for Arts & Culture Grants line item to the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency “CultureWorks - Arts and Culture Grantmaking” line item for the purpose of making a grant to CultureWorks, Inc.; and
(5) $144,025.00 from the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency “United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg - Economic Mobility Grantmaking” line item set forth in section 1(a)(1) of this ordinance for the purpose of providing funding to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for the procurement of grant administration services;
(6) $61,400.00 from the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency “United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg - Children and Families Grantmaking” line item set forth in section 1(a)(2) of this ordinance for the purpose of providing funding to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for the procurement of grant administration services;
(7) $103,690.00 from the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency “Richmond and Henrico Public Health Foundation - Health Grantmaking” line item set forth in section 1(a)(3) of this ordinance for the purpose of providing funding to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for the procurement of grant administration services; and
(8) $81,400.00 from the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency “CultureWorks - Arts and Culture Grantmaking” line item set forth in section 1(a)(4) of this ordinance for the purpose of providing funding to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for the procurement of grant administration services;
all for the purpose of providing grants to certain entities and providing funding to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for the procurement of grant administration services for such grants.
§ 2. That, for the avoidance of doubt, the Chief Administrative Officer is hereby authorized to execute all documents necessary to effect the grants described in subsection 1(b) of this ordinance, provided that all such documents shall first be approved as to form by the City Attorney.
§ 3. This ordinance shall be in force and effect upon adoption.
DATE: June 3, 2026 EDITION: 1
TO: The Honorable Members of City Council
THROUGH: The Honorable Dr. Danny Avula, Mayor
THROUGH: Odie Donald II, Chief Administrative Officer
THROUGH: Tanikia Jackson, DCAO Finance and Administration
THROUGH: Letitia Shelton, Director of Finance
THROUGH: Meghan Brown, Director of Budget and Strategic Planning
THROUGH: Amy Popovich, DCAO Human Services
FROM: Dominic Barrett, Senior Policy Advisor
RE: Renaming and reappropriating Outside Agency Reserve lines to implement the new FY27 grantmaking process.
ORD. OR RES. No.
PURPOSE:
To amend the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 General Fund Budget by renaming and reappropriating certain appropriations in the Outside Agencies section to implement the City’s FY27 grantmaking process.
BACKGROUND:
In FY26, the City of Richmond announced its intent to change how it awards competitive grants to nonprofits. Beginning with the FY27 budget, the City moved from a City-managed application process to a new model that uses external expert grantmaking partners to manage competitive grants in four priority areas: Economic Mobility, Children and Families, Arts and Culture, and Health.
The City issued an RFP in December of 2025 to competitively identify grantmakers for each priority area. The following organizations were selected through that process:
• United Way - Economic Mobility; Children & Families
• Richmond Henrico Public Health Foundation - Health
• CultureWorks - Arts & Culture
Instead of applying directly to the City, as has been done each December in previous cycles, nonprofits will apply through one of our grantmaking partners. These grantmakers will host information sessions and open competitive application processes during the summer of 2027. The RFP process was not completed in time for the selected grantmakers to be named in the adopted FY27 budget. As such, the funds were held in reserve lines in the FY27 budget, and the City must now reappropriate funds in those reserve lines to the selected grantmakers.
All funds reappropriated to Outside Agency lines will be subgranted by the identified grantmakers. Funds appropriated to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services are for the purposes of paying the identified grantmakers for the necessary grantmaking services.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The new process has been designed based on significant feedback over multiple years from the nonprofit community, City Council, and the City Auditor.
STRATEGIC INITATIVES AND OTHER GOVERNMENTAL: Mayoral Action Plan
FISCAL IMPACT: The following reductions will occur: Reserve for Economic Mobility Grants reduced by $1,465,856.00, Reserve for Children and Families Grants reduced by $625,000.00, Reserve for Health Grants reduced by $1,148,000.00, Reserve for Arts & Culture Grants reduced by $601,400.00. The following new line items will be created and see the following increases: United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg - Economic Mobility Grantmaking increased by $1,321,831.00, United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg - Children and Families Grantmaking increased by $563,600.00, Richmond and Henrico Public Health Foundation - Health Grantmaking increased by $1,044,310.00, and CultureWorks - Arts and Culture Grantmaking increased by $520,000.00. $390,515.00 in aggregate will be transferred to the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for the procurement of grant administration services, comprising $144,025.00 from Economic Mobility, $61,400.00 from Children and Families, $103,690.00 from Health, and $81,400.00 from Arts and Culture.
DESIRED EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon Adoption.
REQUESTED INTRODUCTION DATE: July 6, 2026
CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING DATE: July 27, 2026
REQUESTED AGENDA: Consent Agenda.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL COMMITTEE: Education and Human Services
AFFECTED AGENCIES: Office of the DCAO for Human Services, Budget and Strategic Planning, Finance
RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING ORD. OR RES.: Ord. No. 2026-063
ATTACHMENTS:
STAFF: Dominic Barrett, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the DCAO for Human Services