Mesa May Turn Charity Funding Over to United Way

The Arizona Republic, April 16, 2010, by Gary Nelson

Mesa may be on the verge of streamlining how it funnels hundreds of thousands of dollars a year into local non-profit charity agencies.

The money comes from the tax-supported general fund and from Mesa's ABC program, which collects donations the city then channels to the non-profits. This coming fiscal year the total from both sources will be $620,000.

Mesa is in the charity business not because the city is rolling in dough, but because it figures money spent up-front on human services pays off down the road with, for example, fewer police calls. The donations are targeted toward agencies the City Council believes will enhance public safety.

For years, a volunteer panel called the Human Services Advisory Board has screened requests from Mesa's non-profits and recommended which ones should receive grants.

Now the council is considering abolishing that board and handing Mesa's charity dollars to Mesa United Way. The council heard several reasons during a recent discussion:

• Mesa would save $77,000 a year that it now spends to process the grants.

• The city and United Way are already funding many of the same agencies.

• Agencies also would save time and money now spent on duplicate presentations.

While generally supporting the idea, council members were not quite ready to sign the check when they hashed it out last week.

Noting Mesa's emphasis on programs that promote public safety, Mayor Scott Smith said, "There's a pretty significant difference in the approach of how we decide to fund agencies and how United Way may decide to fund an agency."

Vice Mayor Kyle Jones, who was among the council members most skeptical of the proposal, told Mesa United Way executive director Carol McCormack: "We have some services that don't fall under the categories you typically have covered. And they really offset some of the costs that we would have to absorb otherwise through other departments. . . . I don't want to lose that perspective."

McCormack said United Way would treat funds from the city as a separate pot of money and follow the council's policies when allocating it. She also promised regular reports on how the city's money is used.

Councilman Dave Richins said the city should trust United Way's judgment.

"We have some of the best non-profits in the entire Valley based here in Mesa," Richins said.

"I would recommend that maybe we throttle back a little bit on how much oversight we want."

But Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh said the proposal is a major policy shift with possible unintended consequences.

"I don't want one of the unintended consequences to be a distancing or a disconnect between the elected officials and human-services agencies and needs in the community," Kavanaugh said.

Richins replied that council members and top city staff could stay connected by serving on the boards of non-profits, as some already do.

Smith also opposed a hands-off approach. "At the end of the day these are still public funds," he said. "At the end of the day we still have the same responsibility that we do. . . . A blanket donation to a United Way or something is not something I want to be held accountable for."

No final decision was made; City Manager Chris Brady said staff would return with a more detailed written proposal.

Abolishing the Human Services Advisory Board would require passage of an ordinance.