City Reinstates Grants for Service Groups

The city of Westlake Village is poised to award another batch of grants in its long-dormant Community Service Fund program, using sales taxes to help those who help others.

The program, established in 1983 using federal and cigarette tax funds, continued through 1993 using Community Block Grant money, but it was put on hold when the city’s budget became tight.

Last year, primarily because of sales tax revenues generated by the new Costco wholesale store, the city has had an abundance of money in its general fund and reinstated the program to provide financial help to organizations that serve residents.

“We wanted to give back to the community,” Mayor Kris Carraway-Bowman said. “It’s very important for any large institution, a city or a company, to give back to the people that support them when they have excess funds.

“When residents shop at our stores, what better way to thank them than by giving to groups that help them.”

The City Council is expected this month to seat members of the Community Service Fund Advisory Committee, which will evaluate the 14 applications received for funding this year.

City officials said they hope to be able to award the money, in grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 each for a total of $20,000, by May.

Carraway-Bowman said she has seen the process from both sides, as a member of the council giving final approval and as an applicant with her involvement in the Meals on Wheels program, which provides food for the elderly and house-bound in Westlake Village.

Often, she said, the grants made a difference in the number of meals the organization could offer to people.

City officials said the grants are given to groups--including those specializing in youth, senior and employment services--to fund one project, to buy a piece of equipment or to add services, rather than be folded into their overall budgets or used for staff salaries.