funding plans and I hope the members of our city council will carefully
consider your comments.
After asking questions (<email obscured> or by calling
612-673-3737) about this, Steve Gallagher (Policy Specialist) did respond
to most of my questions,
1) What was the formula used to arrive at the decisions to fund
neighborhoods according to the charts provided?
The formula (proposed guidelines) is based on:
- Areas of Concentrated Poverty (50% weight) β A unit of measurement by
the Met Council
- Gentrification (20% weight) β A unit of measurement by University of
Minnesota (CURA)
- Cost Burdened Households (30% weight) β A unit of measurement by the
US Census, Minnesota Compass and others
2) There is separate funding for "neighborhood" organizations and
"community" organizations - what exactly is the difference in these two
entities? I have not yet received an answer to this question.
In reviewing the neighborhood 2020 and beyond plan, I wanted to compare
funding levels in future yrs with those this yr, but I did not see any
listing of funding for 2020. Mr Gallagher said there was no new funding for
2020 - the funding for 2020 was taken from the previous 3-yr budget (2017,
2018, and 2019).
A spreadsheet showing the percentage increases and cuts is attached. The
city apparently did not include the "base" funding in their sums. I do not
know the funding figures for years 2017 - 2019.
Also, regardless of the formula, it seems that cutting some neighborhoods
by 50% while increasing funding to others (which may border those being
cut) by 100% is a drastic measure that requires a clear and robust rational.
bev turk
hiawatha