City proposes adding $15,000 more to nonprofits this year

Carson City officials are proposing a 5 percent increase in the amount of public dollars that gets spread around to community organizations this year. Even with the increase, the city would be handing out just two-thirds of what local groups are seeking.

Nineteen nonprofit groups, ranging from domestic violence programs to a symphony, put in requests for more than $446,000 this year. With the proposed 5 percent increase, the city would have just $290,000 to divvy up.

The largest funding-request increases over what the city gave last year came from the Community Counseling Center, Nevada Rural Counties Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and Gardeners Reclaiming Our Waysides (GROW).

The Community Counseling Center, which operates drug and alcohol abuse counseling and rehabilitation programs, is seeking more than $84,000, about $34,000 more than last year's grant. The city views the center as a crucial social service, particularly since dealing with methamphetamine abuse is the city's No. 1 goal in 2005.

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, which boasts several hundred thousand volunteers nationwide, recruits the services of people 55 years and older to help homebound seniors stay independent. It is requesting $50,000, about $21,500 more than it received last year.

GROW formed in the late 1990s when it became apparent the Carson Freeway project lacked plans and money for landscaping. The group lobbies the state and federal government to make sure the new freeway doesn't leave a wide, brown swath through town. The group also works with state transportation officials on landscape designs.

GROW is seeking $26,000 to pay for the design of one freeway interchange. Last year, the city gave GROW $7,500.

Other organizations seeking increased funding include Community Council on Youth, Nevada Hispanic Services, Brewery Arts Center, Salvation Army, Carson City Preservation Coalition, Carson Access Television Foundation, Nevada Day Inc., Mental Health Coalition, Nevada Tahoe Conservation District, Carson City Symphony, Carson Valley Conservation District and Carson City Library.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors is scheduled to set the total level of funding the city will give out this year at an 8:30 a.m. hearing Thursday at the Carson City Community Center.

- Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.