Allocation Committee meeting recap (6-16-26)

Fiscal year 2025 audit report

Craig Popp, an auditor from Merina + Co., presented the fiscal year 2025 audit report. The firm determined that the Portland Children’s Levy complied with the voter-approved ballot measure, including the 5% administrative cap, and there were no findings or recommendations.

Alternate grant policy and process for small grants

Allocation Committee members approved a policy and process for PCL staff to implement if any of the 12 organizations awarded a small grant this spring turn down their grant award during negotiations, prior to entering into a contract with the City of Portland.

The decision would allow staff to promptly implement the policy to ensure any potential declined grant amount could benefit community-based programs as quickly as possible.

In choosing a potential alternate, the Allocation Committee would use the same criteria in the original small grant process, including application score, votes and recommendations from the Community Council advisory body, and balancing services across program areas. The committee could also factor in other policy considerations, such as the dollar amount of the declined grant compared to a potential alternate’s requested amount, the funding priority addressed by the alternate and more.

If an organization turns down a small grant, PCL staff would implement the process, which includes communicating with all applicants who were not awarded a small grant, providing those applicants with the option to provide testimony, and working with the Allocation Committee in a public meeting to select an alternate.

In the first round of small grants in 2020, one organization selected to receive a small grant ultimately declined due to challenges meeting the City of Portland’s insurance requirements. In that instance, the declined grant amount was disbursed among the other organizations who had been awarded grants, because the grant amounts were all below the maximum grant amount or below the amount requested by applications.

That would not be an option in the spring 2026 round of small grants, since all awards were made at the maximum amount or the amount requested by applicants.

The alternate policy applies only to small grants and excludes funding in any contracts that have already been executed.

See the meeting slide deck for more details

Community Council membership update

Seven people will join the Community Council advisory body in the coming months to continue providing community voice and input into PCL policies and processes.

The new members will join 6 current members who plan to serve an additional 3-year term.

A recruitment process last winter led to 33 applications and a highly competitive pool. Three Community Council members reviewed applications, and staff used their input to select applicants with experience in PCL program areas.

The next cohort of Community Council members includes two or three members with expertise in each of PCL’s six program areas, and about half the members with extensive grantmaking experience. The next Community Council meeting will be this autumn. PCL thanks all of the inaugural Community Council members for their thoughtful contributions to Portland children and families to making PCL processes more accessible and equitable.e, funding for small grants would begin July 1, 2026 and run through June 30, 2029. The increase for large grants would also begin July 1, 2026 and run through June 30, 2028.

Updates and announcements

Grant management: PCL staff are now using WebGrants, the City of Portland’s online grant platform, to manage grants. Mid-year and annual data and narrative reporting will be completed fully in WebGrants for the first time in the 2025-26 fiscal year. The improvements include data forms customized to each grant’s specific metrics and goals, simplifying the process for grantee partners.

Process improvement report: After each competitive funding round, PCL reaches out to applicants (funded and not funded), application reviewers and others to gather feedback about their experiences. After the completion of the recent small grants funding round, PCL are in the process of gathering survey feedback from applicants and conducting interviews and surveys with Community Council members who made funding recommendations. Interviews will also be conducted with Allocation Committee members this summer. The information gathered will be presented in a process improvement report this fall that will be used to inform potential future funding rounds.

Miss the meeting?

Watch it on YouTube or on CityNet Xfinity Channel 30 and 330 (HD) on 7 p.m. June 23. You can also view the meeting slide deck.

Join us for the next Allocation Committee meeting

Our next meeting will be 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 20, 2026. Agendas will be sent to our email list, shared on our social media channels and posted on portlandchildrenslevy.org

We welcome your comment on agenda items or the work of the Portland Children’s Levy. If you would like to join the next meeting to participate, please join our email list stay tuned for the meeting invite.