I am currently watching some football and flipping through Naperville’s proposed 2026 budget, which is 512 pages of light reading.
The current structure inherently creates an environment ripe for conflicts of interest and political favors. The only way I see to prevent conflicts of interest, aside from eliminating the entire program, is to establish community standards for grant applicants.
One of my concerns is that a handful of organizations engaging in behavior that does not unite the community could put the entire program at risk. Maybe not right now, but in the future.
The SECA and Social Services grant sections (page 400+) stood out: about $1.2M for SECA grants and $750K for Social Services.
I’ve been critical of SECA lately, and I still wonder if this is where local government should be focusing its limited dollars. Many great organizations benefit, no doubt, but at what point does funding charitable work become less about “city services” and more about “city-sponsored philanthropy”?
Or worse, does it become a way for politicians to use tax dollars to purchase political support? What do you think, should government be in the charity business at all?