New Orleans City Council-Cox Communications Louisiana's Community Grant Program

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Background

The City Council/Cox Communications Louisiana’s Community Grant Program was established under the terms of Cox Communications Louisiana’s Franchise from the City of New Orleans, Ordinance 24,698 M.C.S., adopted December 15, 2011, as amended by Ordinance 26,304 M.C.S., adopted March 26, 2015. Minimum information and reporting requirements with respect to the award of grants were approved by the City Council by Ordinance 22,410 M.C.S., adopted on October 5, 2006 (Section 2-59 of the Code of the City of New Orleans), which was amended in 2015 to allow this simplified application to be used by applicants for the City Council/Cox Communications Louisiana’s Community Grant Program funding. The purpose of the program is to provide grant support to local organizations and projects that contribute to education, technology training, communications, and similar programs benefiting the youth of the City of New Orleans.

The Program

The Council receives $140,000 annually from Cox Communications Louisiana, LLC to fund the Program. Each individual Councilmember is allocated $20,000 annually. Councilmembers may aggregate their annual allocations to fund individual projects needing more than $20,000. Individual applications shall be for amounts of not less than $1,000. Applicants for the grant program should consider the following:

Purpose

  • ·The program is intended to foster organizations and projects that demonstrably contribute to education, technology training, communications, and similar programs benefiting the youth of the City of New Orleans.
  • ·Organizations and projects that can demonstrate a history of success in the effective and efficient use of resources will be preferred, although start up organizations and first time projects may also be considered for grant funding.
  • ·Organizations and projects that meet a greater number of the Council’s overall goals will be given greater emphasis.

Eligibility

  1. Organizations must be 501(c)(3) non-profits.
  2. Organizations must be in good standing with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office.
  3. Organizations and projects funded under this program must have their permanent location in the Parish of Orleans.
  4. All organizations and projects that can foster the purposes set forth above are eligible for grants.
  5. Organizations shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability.
  6. No grants under this program may be paid to any political campaign, political committee or other political related organization or project.
  7. Funding under this program shall be limited to not more than 50% of the organization’s total annual budget or 25% of the annual budget of an organization that is less than a year old. The term “budget” as used herein shall mean the total of direct cash expenditures plus verified in-kind services. In-kind services shall include volunteer time, use of buildings and other facilities, and use of equipment. The value of volunteer time shall be based on the average hourly earnings of all production and non-supervisory workers on private non-farm payrolls (as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) and increased by 12 percent to cover fringe benefits. The use of buildings and other facilities shall be valued at fair market value. Donated equipment shall also be valued at fair market value.

Attachments

  1. Copy of the IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter indicating tax exempt status or that of the Fiscal Agent
  2. Completed W-9 Form for the current year
  3. Copy of the Articles of Incorporation
  4. Proof of Good Standing from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office. A print-out of the Secretary of State’s page is sufficient.
  5. List of the Board of Directors and Officers, including position within the organization as well as professional occupation and title, if applicable
  6. Letters and permits showing necessary City/Parish approval of project, if applicable
  7. Copy of the organization’s operating budget for the current fiscal year
  8. A copy of the current program or project operating budget that is the subject to this application, showing how grant funding will be used

Grant Review and Approval Process

All grant proposals shall be submitted through the Council website using the “Apply” link below. Upon submission, the Council Utilities Regulatory Office (“CURO”) will review each application for eligibility and completeness of the application. CURO may request additional information to evaluate specific proposals as needed. Projects/programs not meeting the criteria of the program and incomplete applications will be rejected.

Completed applications will be forwarded to each Council office for review and selection. Each Council office will submit to CURO their list of applicants selected and the proposed award amount. CURO will draft a resolution including all selected applicants and award amounts for consideration by the full Council.

The City Council will then, at a regular or special meeting, determine the programs/projects that will be funded that year. Grants will be awarded by resolution of the City Council at a regular or special meeting of the Council. Certified copies of the resolution will be forwarded to Cox Communications Louisiana, LLC for processing and issuance of grant funds.

Applications are due no later than July 10, 2023. This process generally takes about ninety (90) days. Please note that the proceeds of any grant awarded by the City Council are subject to be given in installments, depending on the nature of the program/project.

For additional information, please contact the Council Utilities Regulatory Office, City Hall Room 6E07, 1300 Perdido Street, New Orleans, LA 70112 at (504) 658-1110.

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