Adopt amended Community Benefit Fund Policy. (No general fund impact) (Rinde)

Adopt amended Community Benefit Fund Policy to add annual reporting requirement and certain other provisions.

The Board of Supervisors initially funded the Community Benefit Fund program in the 2022-23 Adopted Budget (September 2022) and adopted the initial policy framework for the program in October 2022. Annually, the Board makes a discretionary decision about continuing the program and the level of funding for the program. Staff plan to include recommendations on the funding for next year's program as part of the Budget hearing on June 13. 

As part of discussions with the Budget Ad-Hoc committee leading into the budget, there were discussions on the program and any enhancements needed. Given that this was the initial year of the program, it was not unexpected that improvements may be necessary to ensure the program is responsive to community needs as well as has a solid structure to ensure its continued success. During those discussions, two areas were suggested for policy improvements as follows: 

These two minor changes should improve clarity and transparency around the use of Community Benefit Funds, which overall has been a well utilized program and already contributed to numerous needs that were previously unaddressed. 

The Department of Financial Services collaborated with the County Administrator's Office on these recommended changes. These changes were discussed with the Budget Ad-Hoc Committee at their April 2023 meeting when the funding for the 2023-24 Community Benefit Fund was discussed. This provided an opportunity to discuss enhancements to the existing policy to address areas not contemplated in the original adoption.