Eloy City Council Work Session: Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Community Outreach Program Presentations

On May 13, 2024, at approximately 5:35 PM local time (13:15 UTC), the Eloy City Council held a work session to receive presentations from community organizations requesting funding for the fiscal year 2024-2025 Community Outreach Program. Staff presented a new review panel process, organizational contracts, and a recommendation to fund $114,500, an 8.5% increase over the previous year, down from the total $131,125 requested. The recommended amount aims to keep increases within a 3-7% inflationary range. No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

• Process Overview: Staff explained that a review panel (including city staff and council members) evaluated applications to increase efficiency. The panel recommended reductions to keep the budget sustainable, noting that approval of all requests would have doubled the budget from $60,000 in 2020 to over $130,000.
• Chamber of Commerce (Andrew Rodriguez): Requested $46,000 for operations and marketing; expressed willingness to accept reductions. Reported outreach statistics: social media impressions increased from 197,000 to 319,000; chamber members grew from 150 to 176. Also presented for Eloy Glow (requested $10,000, proposed reduction to $8,000) and Sunland Visitor Center (requested $19,800, proposed reduction to $17,000). The visitor center reported visitor increases: out-of-state travelers from 5,020 to 9,115; international from 2,300 to 52. Discussion included renaming the visitor center to "Eloy Visitor Center" to avoid confusion.
• Hope Coalition/Eloy Food Bank (Pastor Ed): Requested $6,000 (recommended in full) for food distribution. Distributed 28,000 meals last year (16,000 through the food bank), serving 90% Eloy residents. The summer feeding program expects 50-150 students weekly. Noted that NextEra funding is uncertain.
• Pinal Alliance for Economic Growth & AARP Reading Program (Jerry Stapley): Requested $5,000 for the Alliance and $2,760 (rounded to $2,800) for the reading program. The reading program serves eight school districts, including Eloy and Toltec. Reported 73% of students progressed a full grade level in 2022-23, double the national average for AARP programs. School districts are committed to contributing double the city's contribution.
• CDLU Fiestas Patrias (Latisa Triangle): Requested $15,000 (increase from $10,000) for entertainment, citing rising costs. Event attracts attendees from Pinal County, Phoenix, and Tucson, with free admission. Funds will go to Saturday night's main band.
• EDSCI - Back to the Patch (Rosie Coriel): Requested $3,000 plus $1,500 in-kind for a three-day community reunion event in September. Over 412 invitations sent; event includes park activities, a banquet, and a musical.
• Pinal Hispanic Council/Veterans Center: Requested $2,700 for the Eloy Veterans Parade and Wreaths Across America, serving roughly 450 veteran families. No representative present; brief summary given by staff.
• Sparrow Campaign (Violet): Requested $1,000 for the Steps of Love Suicide Awareness Walk (September 7) and $3,000 for the Heroes Against Hunger 5K (October 12). The walk includes a vigil and resource distribution; the 5K benefits the Santa Cruz Valley Food Pantry and promotes health.
• CARA (Lucy Rangel): Requested $10,000 ($5,000 for utility/rental assistance, $5,000 for food pantry). Last fiscal year, CARA assisted 140 Eloy households (418 individuals) with $1,017,579 in aid and distributed 11,211 emergency food boxes. A point of clarification: of the previous year's $10,000 allocation, only $2,115 had been reimbursed; CARA believed they had spent the full amount, but staff indicated no further reimbursement requests were received.

Key Outcomes

• The council received all presentations and the review panel's recommendation of $114,500 total funding.
• No formal votes were taken; the council will consider funding decisions at a subsequent regular meeting (scheduled immediately after a 10-minute recess).
• Staff noted that the recommended amount is a reduction from the $131,125 requested, representing an 8.5% increase from the previous year's $106,000.
• Several council members raised points: exploring grants for visitor center improvements, renaming the African American school, and ensuring timely reimbursement processing for CARA.