The Coronado City Council is taking steps to revamp city grant programs that provide more than $1 million per year to local community groups.
During the recent three-hour meeting, council members also talked about cross-border water contamination and the city’s investment policy.
Each year, the City Council reviews Policy No. 28, which establishes eligibility and accountability requirements for groups seeking grant funds.
Last year, for example, those monies went to programs such as the Coronado Historical Association for keeping the museum free and Safe Harbor Coronado for services for family support.
Last year, the Council received over $2 million in grant requests before awarding roughly half that amount to 36 unique programs across 23 organizations.
Staff suggested this year to lower the cap to $100,000-$120,000 per organization from the previous year’s limit of $150,000 to accommodate increasing demand for community grants.
A second recommendation was to establish an overall formula to fund each grant element according to a desired amount or percentage. The money is doled out in four categories: arts and culture, community pride, economic development and social services.
Currently, there is no requirement to appropriate funds evenly, or to prioritize particular program types.
During the recent meeting, the council passed a motion to lower funding caps to $125,000 per organization and to let council members Mike Donovan and Carrie Anne Downey prepare a report on the issue of prioritizing each grant element.
Tijuana sewage crisis subcommittee extended
In terms of the cross-border sewage issue, the City Council voted to continue an ad hoc subcommittee for another year.
The committee would work with federal officials and focus on “outreach and advocacy,” and was set to expire April 1, 2024 but will now be extended into 2025.
City staff updated council on funding and plans for multiple infrastructure projects planned by the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC).
The projects are expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2027, and would result in a 90% reduction in the number of days sewage from the Tijuana River flows into the ocean and across the border to U.S. beaches.
They also would reduce by 80% the volume of untreated wastewater discharged from a non-working treatment plant six miles south of the border in Punta Bandera.
Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey and Council member John Duncan traveled to Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago to urge for more funding, meeting with members of both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
The extra funds being advocated for have not been approved yet.
A key concern is the wastewater treatment plant at Punta Bandera which has been depositing millions of gallons of waste into the ocean daily.
“The federal government and the army of Mexico coming in to take over the plant, that is real,” Council member John Duncan said at the city council meeting. “It is actually happening. They said it would be done by the end of September.”
City’s investments
The last item on the agenda was a review of the city’s cash and investments.
Every year, operation of the investment program is delegated to the City Treasurer and subject to review and renewal.
According to the staff report, Coronado received a 2%-9% return on investments for the fiscal year 2022-2023.
Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS) has had a history of higher returns on investments, but also a higher risk of loss with an almost negative 14% on their investments in the fiscal year 2021-2022.
Staff reviewed the city’s current investments and evaluated alternate asset allocation and strategies.
As a result, the city plans to make changes to the current investment plan.
During public comment, Coronado resident Brad Gerbel said he calculated that the city lost $800,000 in investment returns since May 2023.
“The issue has irritated me since May 23, 2023,” Gerbel said.
We’ve lost nearly $800,000 on interests.
Coronado resident Brad Gerbel
“We’ve lost nearly $800,000 on interests,” Gerbel said. “We’ve lost a whole lot of money for our taxpayers by this.”
Duncan responded saying that he didn’t really have an answer but wanted to acknowledge there have been big city manager turnovers in the last few years.
“I understand things happen and we have priorities. We have to run the city,” Duncan said. “We can’t [do] hundreds of studies but this is one where I think getting this final information would be helpful.”
Council member Casey Tanaka also said he welcomed the council discussion on investments.
We’re going to make some course corrections.
Council member Casey Tanaka
“We could have perhaps accessed some better returns,” Tanaka said. “We’re going to make some course corrections.”
