Excess city RAGBRAI funds available for grants

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Hosting RAGBRAI overnight resulted in a net “profit” for the Charles City RAGBRAI 2017 Committee, so now that group wants to give the money back to the community.

Total expenses for RAGBRAI’s overnight stop in Charles City were about $109,000, said Trudy O’Donnell, the treasurer for the committee.

“People don’t have a clue how much it costs to put RAGBRAI on,” she  said. Costs include portable toilets, entertainment and more.

The biggest source of funding was sales at the beverage garden, said O’Donnell, who is also the Charles City city clerk. Other funding sources included vendor fees, donations and a city hotel-motel tax grant.

“I think it is safe to say it was a huge success for the city of Charles City,” she said. “I was very pleased to see the number of volunteers step up to the plate and help pull off this event as smoothly as they did.”

O’Donnell said that after all the expenses were paid the RAGBRAI committee has about $28,000 left over.

“The executive committee has met and we have decided to refund a portion of the nonprofit vendors fees and leave $5,000 to $6,000 in the fund for ‘seed money’ for the next time RAGBRAI rolls through,” said O’Donnell.

Each of the nonprofit vendors will get $175 of their permit fee back, she said.

“As for $20,000 of the remaining funds, the executive committee will accept applications for grants for community projects, much like what was done in 2010,” she said.

That year, the most recent previous overnight Charles City stop for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, leftover funds were used toward the Revival bridge sculpture at Victory Park, commemorating the 2008 floods.

The most any one project can receive this year is $5,000, so there is potential to help fund at least four local projects.

O’Donnell said the guidelines are much the same as in 2010.

“We are looking for projects that are tangible and can be enjoyed for many years to come,” she said.

Applications need to include the following information:

• Status of the applicant (city/county, business/corporation, nonprofit organization or committee/group/club) and a brief description of the organization.
• A brief description of the project for which funding is being requested.
• Amount being requested, total project cost and a budget for the total project.
• Anticipated timeline of completion for the project. Projects should be completed within 18 months of the date a grant is awarded.

Applications can be picked up at the Chamber of Commerce office at 401 N. Main or at City Hall at 105 Milwaukee Mall.  

The deadline for applications to be returned to the city clerk’s office at City Hall is Oct. 6.

Applicants will be notified of a date and time to meet with the RAGBRAI executive committee to review their request and to answer any questions the committee has.

Once the committee selects the projects and grant amounts, 50 percent of each grant will be awarded, with the remaining 50 percent awarded after completion of the project.

“We look forward to seeing what great projects are out there and hope we can help them be completed,” O’Donnell said.

For more information, contact O’Donnell at 641-257-6300.