Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution amends the 2026 Adopted Operating Budget for the Community Development Division (CDD) to reflect up to $328,920 in new grant revenue and corresponding expenditures in the Other Grants Fund (Fund 1220). The grant terms call for in-kind grant matching contributions from the City totaling approximately $90,000 in 2026. These matching funds are available within CDD's 2026 Adopted Operating Budget.
A separate resolution will be submitted to create the 1.5 LTE Program and Outreach Coordinator positions. The positions will be fully funded by the grant in 2026. The estimated cost for salary and benefits of the positions in 2026 is $100,819 (estimated an April 1 start date). The estimated annual cost for the positions is $134,425.
The level of funding from the grantor gradually declines over the subsequent three years of the grant period (2027 - 2029). If the Program is to continue, funding from the City General Fund or other sources will be needed to offset those reductions. Any additional City funding required to meet those obligations in 2027, 2028, and 2029, will require authorization from the Common Council through the City’s standard operating budget process for each of those years. This includes continued authorization for the 1.5 LTE Program & Outreach Coordinator positions. Once the grant period is over, the program will be evaluated to determine if it will continue. If CDD wishes to continue the program, the agency will need to request the funds through the standard operating budget process.
Under the proposed amendment, CDD's 2026 Adopted Operating Budget will be amended to reflect the following increases in revenues and expenditures in the Other Grants Fund:
Revenue: $328,920
Salaries and Benefits Expenditures: $153,920
Purchased Services and/or Supplies Expenditures: $175,000
The proposed resolution further authorizes the Mayor and City Clerk to execute an agreement with the grantor organization (Oscar Rennebohm Foundation) to formally accept these grant funds.
Title
Authorizing the City of Madison Community Development Division (CDD) to accept a proposed grant of up to $750,000 from the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation (ORF) to help fund a four-year Neighborhood-based Older Adult Pilot Program; amending CDD's 2026 Adopted Operating Budget to recognize receipt of the first year’s installment of that grant ($328,920) and authorizing its expenditure; and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a grant agreement with the Foundation to accept the grant. (Citywide)
Body
BACKGROUND
In 2023, in an effort to build a more inclusive older adult service model that promotes healthy aging and successfully engages a diverse Madison population, the City’s Community Development Division (CDD) hired consultant EQT By Design to gather information from Madison’s marginalized older adult population and recommend strategies that would provide more equitable systems, policies and programs to engage this age group. EQT’s Older Adult Services Engagement Analysis helped guide a new CDD Older Adult Services Request for Proposals (RFP) process in 2024. In it, CDD staff described “Equity Priority Areas”, neighborhoods with low-income or marginalized older adults for whom older adult services were generally unavailable. CDD sought proposals to serve those areas but did not receive proposals offering services to all of them.
Following that RFP process, a local private nonprofit, the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation (ORF), approached CDD with a proposal to offer the City grant funding to support a four-year Neighborhood-based Older Adult initiative. As proposed, the funding would support a pilot program in which CDD and its Senior Center would partner with neighborhood/community centers to support programming at accessible locations and with knowledgeable staff, to create culturally relevant social connections for older adults. A public-private partnership model, the pilot has an estimated first-year budget of approximately $400,000. ORF will provide a first-year grant of $328,920 with City in-kind match contributions covering the balance. Under the grant arrangement, annual ORF grant amounts would gradually decline over the following three years to be replaced by support from the City and/or other private funders.
The goal of the pilot is to provide older adults in Madison’s Equity Priority Areas with improved opportunities for social connection, nutrition and enrichment experiences through development of consistent, neighborhood-based programming. By working with community centers that are embedded in neighborhoods, the pilot aims to overcome obstacles associated with inadequate transportation and to improve the cultural relevancy of programs.
Among the needs that the pilot program seeks to address:
• ORF grant funds will be used to hire Program and Outreach Coordinators (1.5 FTE) who will operate out of the Madison Senior Center (MSC) and report directly to CDD’s Community Resources Manager.
• Culturally Relevant Programming: Program and Outreach Coordinators will (1) initiate consistent, weekly enrichment programs at neighborhood-based sites, working with each participating center to survey program desires of older adults and implement programs that address those interests; (2) work with MSC staff and center personnel to promote the programs and generate strong weekly attendance; and (3) work with an outside evaluator to measure the impact on community center older adult engagement/enrichment and on social connection improvement for participating older adults.
• Community Meal / Nutrition Program: According to the National Council on Aging, 7 million older adults were food-insecure in 2022, and over half the people over 60 who qualify for the SNAP program do not enroll, in part because of the stigma and the complicated enrollment process. Program and Outreach Coordinators will establish a nutrition program by implementing lunch/breakfast experiences at centers that either currently offer a meal or have kitchen facilities available for meal preparation, in collaboration with center/kitchen staff, community meal providers and/or neighborhood-based food pantries.
This opportunity to partner with the private sector to establish a new shared staffing model will substantially increase support and services for older adults. The outcome will be older adults who are mentally and physically healthier and more connected to their community, while establishing relationships with caring organizations and individuals.
The purpose of this Resolution is to authorize the City to accept ORF grant funds and embark on the proposed public-private partnership that will serve the expanding aging community in Madison. The acceptance of these funds requires an amendment to CDD’s 2026 Adopted Operating Budget. Any future financial role that the City might assume as the level of ORF grants decline beginning in 2027 will require the approval and authorization of the Common Council during the development of CDD’s 2027-2029 operating budgets.
ACTION
WHEREAS, the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation (ORF), a local private nonprofit, has made available to the City of Madison up to $750,000 in ORF grant funds over a four-year period (2026-2029) for the purpose of partnering with the City’s Community Development Division (CDD) to provide older adults with consistent, neighborhood-based programs in Madison’s Equity Priority Areas by creating opportunities for social connection, nutrition and enrichment experiences; and,
WHEREAS, in furtherance of this initiative, the City of Madison, on behalf of CDD, wishes to undertake the proposed Neighborhood-based Older Adult Pilot Program as described herein; and,
WHEREAS, the ORF grant funds for the Pilot Program will be used, in part, to hire 1.5 FTE limited term Program and Outreach Coordinator positions in CDD that will be based at and work out of the Madison Senior Center; and,
WHEREAS, the acceptance of these funds requires an amendment to CDD’s 2026 Adopted Operating Budget to reflect receipt of the first-year grant of $328,920, as well as authorization to spend those funds; and,
WHEREAS, in-kind City match expenditures of up to $90,000 may be offered in 2026 to provide oversight and support to the Pilot Program and will be drawn from staff and resources already authorized in the City’s 2026 Adopted Operating Budget.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council authorizes the Mayor and City Clerk to execute an agreement to accept a Neighborhood-based Older Adult Pilot Program grant of up to $750,000 from the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation for the period 2026-2029; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Common Council authorizes an amendment to the Community Development Division’s 2026 Adopted Operating Budget to recognize $328,920 of new grant revenues and their commensurate expenditure; and,
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that any Pilot Program expenses and revenues in 2027-2029 or beyond, including any commitment of City funds, shall be subject to review and approval by the Common Council through the City’s regular operating budget process, and approval of this Resolution does not constitute a commitment by the City to continue the Program beyond funding that is available in 2026.