The RAP Cultural Grant Committee gave out $1.7 million to 27 organizations May 14.
But it says an increasing number of nonprofits are filing late applications and financial reports — the followup paperwork to show how they used the money.
According to Committee Chair Sharon Hanson, the current penalty for late financial reporting is a 10% deduction on the money the organization receives in the next grant cycle. She said the penalty should be stronger.
“Our committee would respectfully request that, if an organization that has already been funded is not turning in their financial reporting on time, that they should be disqualified from participating in the current grant allocation year,” she told the Summit County Council May 14. “That grant applicant signs a contract with the county that states very clearly when their financial reporting is due, and for them not to be able to make that deadline doesn't seem acceptable to our committee.”
When it comes to late applications, the penalty has always been disqualification. Summit County Manager Shayne Scott said staff have “made an exception here and there for certain circumstances.”
The council itself made an exception for the Sundance Institute when it missed last year’s deadline.
“This is a very nuanced issue. We're not ready to speak about it,” Scott said at the meeting. “I think it would honestly be an inappropriate conversation to have in open session.”
Hanson thinks a lot of it comes down to organizations waiting until the hour of the deadline to submit.
“As a committee, we feel very strongly that no late application should be accepted. We felt it simply isn't fair to all the organizations who do follow the rules and get things in on time,” she said, adding that late applications calls into question organizational capacity.
The council didn’t change the penalties for late grant reporting and applications May 14. It only adopted the committee’s 2025 recommendations for grant awards.
That included funding for KPCW, of which Summit County’s a financial supporter. For a full list of underwriters, click here.
Restaurant Tax Grant Committee Chair Billy Demong told KPCW that his board, which allocates an even larger pool of money, has seen a marginal change in late applications.
There are about twice the number of restaurant tax grant applications versus the cultural RAP tax grant.
