Foundation executive speaks out against proposed racino endowment cuts by Shelbyville

"I know that the mayor and council have difficult decisions to make. Whatever the best solution eventually is, I hope we arrive at that with transparency and understanding of the issues that we all face. I do believe that it would be wise to set a little of this revenue aside while we have it. No one doubts there will be a day when the casino revenues are not there," Haacker said.

At question is a cut of the Blue River Community Foundation grants from $150,000 to $35,000.

In 2010, the council approved a resolution stating "The Common Council of the City of Shelbyville agrees to appropriate slot machine wagering fee revenues for the economic development, infrastructure repair and improvement, and economic revitalization projects that are necessary to realize the community's long-term success."

According to the resolution, 5 percent of the funds were to go to the Blue River Community Foundation.

Shortly after approval of that resolution, the Common Council voted in favor of approving a resolution stating the Blue River Community Foundation would be required to hold the donation by the city as a permanent endowment, resulting in an inability to immediately utilize funds for granting purposes until income is generated from the endowment.

Section 1 of the resolution states, "The Common Council agrees to utilize portions of the 5 percent Reserve Fund, as designated in Resolution 2010-5, to award funds to qualifying non-profit organizations within the City of Shelbyville over a five-year period, beginning in 2010 and ending in 2014 in the amount of twenty thousand dollars per year."

Section 2 of the resolution states, "The Common Council shall partner with the Blue River Community Foundation in the award of funds to said qualifying organizations. A standard administrative fee of one percent of the funds in the endowment must be paid to the Blue River Community Foundation for its assistance in the administration of the various grants."

Haacker said it is "unclear" to assume if the funding would last forever. She said that in the correspondence she has the "gap" funding of $35,000 per year was created to make some grants available immediately while the endowment grew. Haacker added that in the correspondence she has, the council wanted to fund the "gap grants" of $35,000 for five years, which would end in 2014.

"That was anticipated and expected. We, and many in the nonprofit community, were under the impression that the 5 percent set aside to continue to build this permanent funding stream would remain so long as racino revenues were coming in," Haacker said.

She said she believes that is where the disagreement is.

"I can't find anywhere in the language of the resolutions, the minutes of the meetings, or email correspondence that says that the 5 percent to the permanent funding stream would also end at 5 years. Regardless, it's a different council and a different mayor, different challenges and priorities. Even if we agree to disagree on the original intent, I think we should look forward and focus more on what could be possible with longer range vision and planning," she said.

Haacker said if the city continues to contribute five percent of the racino revenues, the annual grants distributed by the BRCF would be greater than $112,000 in 10 years.

"Not adding anything to the fund will still generate grants, of course, since the earnings on the money that is currently in the fund are what produces those grants. But if we set aside just a little money now, while we have it, the future resource for quality of life projects and granting will be much, much greater," Haacker said.

She said she believes if money is not set aside, everyone will miss out on a "wonderful opportunity to position Shelby County for a long-term benefit."

"Compared to other counties, we have very few local funders - no private or corporate foundations that do much charitable work in the community, no college or university to partner with. Our United Way, SCUFFY, is very strong and their partner organizations benefit from the community's support of their annual drive. However, the many other nonprofit organizations that have received city racino grants so far include veteran serving organizations, arts and culture, youth serving organizations, seniors and more," Haacker said.

Haacker said that she had been in contact with city officials through the summer and was not told there would be a change.

"I was not aware of it until after the first reading of the budget. One important thing to note is that the impact will be felt by the nonprofit community and those that they serve; not really the foundation. We simply hold the funds, invest the money, and administer the grants. After finding out that the funding was reduced, we held a small meeting earlier this month with several of the nonprofit organizations' staff and board members, the mayor, and a council member. I believe that many of the nonprofit organizations have been in contact with city council members the mayor," Haacker said.

As for "scare tactics" being used by the BRCF, Haacker disagrees.

"I think we have tried to stick to the facts and numbers," she said.

Haacker said the nonprofit partners are "busy doing the work they do and are probably not attending council meetings," adding the nonprofits do an incredible amount with very little resource at times.

"It's important that we, at the BRCF, stay aware and community any potential funding stream for their work, whether it is at the local level or elsewhere. This is one of the ways we serve the nonprofit community. The impact will be felt by the organizations that receive the grants. BRCF is simply the vehicle," Haacker said.

The city council has a work session scheduled for 8 a.m. today before giving the budget final approval on Oct. 6.