City of Madison Finance Department Grant Resolution Toolkit
Introduction
APM 1-9 establishes policies related to the administration of grants, including when City departments are required to seek approval from the Common Council for grant applications and acceptance of grants. The purpose of this toolkit is to advise City departments and agencies on the components of drafting a Common Council resolution to apply for and accept grants.
When is a resolution required?
- Grant Application: Agencies must receive Common Council approval before submitting a grant application if the application requires a signature that binds the City to any legal terms. If the grant application does not include such legal terms, Common Council approval for the application is still recommended.
- Grant Acceptance: Agencies must receive Common Council approval to accept a grant. This approval may be included in the agency’s adopted budget or through a separate resolution.
Resolutions that amend the budget
- If a grant is awarded, agencies will have to amend their budget to accept funds, unless the award is included in the adopted budget. Resolutions that amend the budget must include language the authorized the amendment and must be adopted by a supermajority (15 – votes) of Council.
- Resolutions can only amend the budget of the current fiscal year. Agencies cannot amend a future budget that has not been adopted. If the grant award is anticipated in a future year, you may still submit a resolution to authorize the application for a grant. If awarded the grant in a future fiscal year, you can include this in your budget request or amend the budget through a separate resolution.
For information on the broader resolution process, see the Creating a Resolution document and other tips from the City of Madison Legislative Resource Center.
Resolution titles
A grant resolution title must include:
- Language authorizing the application and/or acceptance of a grant
- The requesting City agency
- The grant amount (based on the funding opportunity or based on project budget calculations)
- The funder and grant program name
- Budget amendment language, if applicable: “amending the [AGENCY NAME] [YEAR] [CAPITAL/OPERATING BUDGET] to reflect the grant award and corresponding expenses”
- Contract agreement language
Title examples
The examples below are for “apply & accept” resolutions that allow for the authorization of both the submission of the grant application and the acceptance of grant funds if awarded. Agencies may request both actions in one resolution if all necessary details are known at the time of the resolution is introduced. In some cases, agencies may decide to submit two separate resolutions. You can use the relevant sections of the template below for resolutions that only apply or accept a grant.
- Authorizing [City Agency] to apply for a [grant dollar amount] [grant title] from [funder name] and, if awarded, amending the [relevant agency budget] to reflect the resulting grant award and corresponding expenses and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to sign the resulting grant agreement to accept the grant.
- Authorizing the City of Madison Economic Development Division to apply for a $100,000 Small Business Administration Business Walk grant and, if awarded, amending the Economic Development Division 2022 Capital Budget to reflect acceptance of the grant and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to sign the resulting grant agreement to accept the grant.
WHEREAS clauses
WHEREAS Clauses should include:
- Justification for the grant application
- Full legal business name of grantor
- Full amount of potential grant contract
- Funding from grantor
- Any matching requirements, including where the agency has identified a potential match within the budget.
- How the funds will be administered
- Length of the funding period
WHEREAS clause examples
WHEREAS, through the development of the Economic Development Plan the City identified a gap in outreach to small businesses located in Madison; and
WHEREAS, in 2017 the City of Madison Economic Development Division piloted a suggested best practice known as Business Walks where City staff and volunteers visit local businesses to discuss needs and resources available within the city; and
WHEREAS, the Small Business Administration offers a Business Walk grant program to local governments pursuing this strategy to foster job retention in small businesses; and
WHEREAS, the grant funding is in the amount of $100,000 with no cost share requirement; and
WHEREAS, the City will be contracting with a third-party consultant to run the Business Walk program walks; and
WHEREAS, these are one-time funds that will be spent down by the end of 2019; and
WHEREAS, the grant application form includes legal terms, obligations, and/or commitments from the City and/or requires a signature from a person who is authorized to bind the City to such things; and
WHEREAS, City staff can attest to the validity and veracity of the statements
and representations contained in the grant application; and
WHEREAS, if awarded, the granting agency may require the City to sign a contract, grant agreement, and/or other documents binding the City to certain obligations
Resolution clauses
Resolution clauses must include:
- A resolution to accept the grant
- A resolution to amend the budget, if applicable
- A resolution to authorize appropriate City officials to accept and execute the grant agreement, contract, or other legal documents (Note: Typically, the Mayor and City Clerk are named in the resolution as the City signers and such contracts are routed through the City’s contract signature process as outlined in APM 1-1. However, the Common Council may authorize other signatories in the resolution).
Resolution clause examples
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Economic Development Division, after consultation with the City Attorney, is authorized, on behalf of the City, to apply for a grant up to $100,000 through the Small Business Administration Business Walks grant program and sign all application materials; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that, if awarded the grant, the Mayor and City Clerk are authorized to enter into a grant agreement with the Small Business Administration, in a format approved by the City Attorney; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that if awarded the grant, the Economic Development Division Adopted Capital Budget will be amended to appropriate the grant award and corresponding expenditures in the amount of the grant funds awarded; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Economic Development Division is authorized to sign related paperwork or forms associated with the administration of the grant, after consultation with the City Attorney where appropriate.
Fiscal notes
A fiscal note is a summary of the fiscal impact of legislation. APM 1-3 and MGO section 2.05 (1)(b) require that all resolutions and ordinances include an appropriate fiscal note approved by the Finance Director or a designee. The Finance Department Budget Analysts are responsible for drafting resolution fiscal notes. Files should be submitted for fiscal review by 8:00am on the Wednesday before the intended Common Council meeting so the budget analyst can approve them before the 12:00pm deadline to introduce new business.