The City Thinks It's a Charity

The city thinks it's a charity, but, unfortunately you don't get to deduct the amount the city gives on your behalf from your Federal income tax bill unless you itemize deductions and deduct your property taxes. That assumes the money the city gives to charities comes from property tax revenue and not other revenue sources such as sales taxes, fees and electric or water charges.

The city has established a Strategic Partnership for Community Services Advisory Board. The charter for this board follows:

The Strategic Partnerships for Community Services Advisory Board makes recommendations to the City Council to further the purpose of City funding to the nonprofit sector of cultivating and sustaining partnerships with 501(c)3 organizations that strengthen the City’s key priorities in Public Safety, Transportation, Housing, Parks and Recreation, Veteran Services and issues of Safety Net. This Advisory Board participates in the grant funding process. They review and evaluate applications submitted to the City for social funding.

The budget for this board to fund community services is $400,000 this fiscal year. Here is a list of their proposed activites to fund:

Who knew our city government funded charities?