Commissioner Dan Ryan's Citywide Grants Policy Unanimously Adopted by City Council

PORTLAND, OREGON, Wednesday, September 4, 2024-Today, Commissioner Dan Ryan's Citywide Grants Policy passed City Council in a 5-0 vote. Currently, the City of Portland does not have consistent guidelines or an award framework for the distribution of nearly $17M in outgoing grants. By adopting the Citywide Grants Policy, City Council has created consistent guidelines and a citywide award system for the outgoing grants administered by the Grants Management Division or individual City Service Areas that ensures transparency, accountability, and the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars in advance of Portland's government transition.

"This Citywide Grants Policy is long-overdue, common-sense housekeeping," said Commissioner Dan Ryan. "Right now, the City does not require the most basic information from its grantees, such as recent financial statements or a list of who sits on the Board of Directors. It makes zero sense that your taxpayer investments in the nonprofit sector have less regulation than charitable investments in the same sector. Taxpayers deserve a return on their investment, and the Citywide Grants Policy will ensure we finally exercise responsible fiscal stewardship of our outgoing grants. I appreciate my colleagues' support of responsible grant management and your vote for good governance today."

The Citywide Grants Policy does not apply to the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), the Portland Children's Levy (PCL), or sub-award grants funded by external sources (e.g., federal grant funds). The Citywide Grants Policy used PCEF and PCL best practices to develop this standardized framework.

"The Citywide Grants Policy will institutionalize transparency, accountability, and efficiency in our outgoing grants distribution," said Grants Manager Sheila Craig. "For far too long, outgoing City grants have been subject to different processes in different bureaus-this policy streamlines our oversight of outgoing grants and will allow for all City of Portland grants to go through one portal-Webgrants-by next summer."

By July 1, 2025, the Citywide Grants Policy will result in all City grants going through one unified portal, Webgrants. Webgrants is currently operational for some City grants including Portland Parks & Recreation Community Partnership Program and Teen Collaborative Initiative Grants, Office of Violence Prevention Safer Portland Grant Programs, and Special Appropriations Grant Programs, and will ultimately be used to apply for grants, view grants status, and for Portlanders to view how their tax dollars are being spent.

Read the Citywide Grants Policypassed by City Council on September 4, 2024.

The Citywide Grants Policy goes into effect on October 4, 2024.

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