Generous to a fault

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by on March 18, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Budget, Council Members, Spending, Taxes, Town staff
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Posted by Nancy Oates on March 18, 2019

http://chapelhillwatch.com/2019/03/18/generous-to-a-fault/

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3 Comments

  1. Bonnie Hauser

     /  March 20, 2019

    what an interesting topic. Last I looked, the county gives away about $1.2 million a year- not quite one point on the tax rate. The county staff does a great job with the grant management process but its unclear whether this is an appropriate role of govt or worse. Can it be mis-construed as buying influence.

    Wake County has an interesting model that I like better. They contract with not for profits who extend county services into communities. Typically, there are multi-year contracts with fees and performance expectations. It helps the NFPs, improves county services, and saves money. Its truly a win-win

    Worth noting that this is an unintended consequence of not having a commercial tax base. I sit on a board in Wake County and local corporations donate extensively to not for profits – money and people. We dont have that- so the responsibility falls to the government.

  2. Fred Black

     /  March 24, 2019

    Bonnie, are you saying that we don’t have local corporate donors that give to NFP, or that we don’t have the same number as Wake? A lot of giving is regional.

  3. Terri

     /  March 25, 2019

    “Towns are not philanthropic organizations.” All governments should be philanthropic organizations. The finances the governments collect come from the people and should go back to the people through services, grants, etc. I like that Orange County and it’s towns use locally citizens via advisory boards/task forces to make decisions about fund allocation to non-profits and other charitable organizations.

    I don’t understand the objection to contributions to capital campaigns. The IFC, for example, provides an invaluable service to this community. Helping the homeless and those who are economically challenged requires space. Why wouldn’t the towns and the county all contribute to their campaign?