Grand Forks City 2027 Budget Community Outreach Campaign

Friends and neighbors:

Urgent and fast action is needed in Grand Forks to save critical funding for local agencies and nonprofits. You can do your part to help your community in as little as ten minutes!

Below, we've outlined low-effort steps to directly impact your community. Everyone with 10 minutes to spare before September 8th can help, and our nonprofit community needs all the help we can give. We've also provided some further context in the FAQ below in case you'd like more information.

What's wrong? What's at risk? How can I help, right now?

Every year, the City of Grand Forks prepares a budget in late summer that is adopted before October and then informs the city's operations and priorities for the following year. On September 8th, 2026, the very final vote to approve the 2027 City of Grand Forks budget will take place. At this moment, critical funding for Human Needs organizations (which has historically been funded for many years) is not yet included in the 2027 budget proposal, and the Arts ReGrant program is at-risk every year. To help, we need your voice (or written messages).

Check these five critical action steps below and cross them all off between now and September 8th:

1. You can submit community comments to the City Council.This is the primary way that community members are able to interact with the city budget process, and your feedback is critical to help policymakers inform their votes.

The Tuesday, September 8th City Council Meeting details are at this link (note the day change due to Labor Day Holiday). Comments can be submitted here. Please note that when you receive this email, the agenda page will probably be blank. This is because the official agenda will not be posted until September 4th; however, you can start making comments NOW. Comments made earlier actually have more of a chance of being seen by council members before the vote. We have some suggestions below.

  • When asked for the Meeting Type, enter City Council

  • When asked for Agenda Item Number / Topic, enter 2027 City Budget

  • When writing your comment, consider the following starter prompts:

    • (Introduce yourself by name and let them know what ward of the city you live/work/study in.)

    • I deeply appreciate all of the time and energy that staff and elected officials put in so that our city can operate effectively, and I especially appreciate the immense efforts expended annually on the City budget.

    • In particular, I am very pleased to see that the budget was revised between the time of its initial presentation until the day of the preliminary approval vote, to include the Arts ReGrant funding that was initially cut.

      • The Arts ReGrant Program is an important one, supporting local art-focused nonprofits in their mission to make Grand Forks an even cooler place to live!

      • (Feel free to mention any specific recipient organization you value. They are listed in the FAQ below for your reference.)

    • I am, however, extremely disappointed that the majority of those on our city council refused to even consider for discussion the human needs grants in the budget meeting that I watched online on August 3.

      • Thank you, Council Member Berg, for bringing up the importance of this program, which has previously supported operations and programs at numerous local social service agencies that serve our community, helping to get families back on their feet after difficulty, providing assistance that keeps people housed, preventing homelessness rates from worsening, feeding local youth, and much more. I was frankly shocked that this motion received no second, as my understanding is that the proposed amendment would have merely supported further conversation about the program and possibly funding it.

    • The City and the agencies who have historically received CSG program funding regularly work together to confront issues in our city and serve all residents. Many residents are widely supportive of these organizations, whose critical operations support members of our community directly in ways that have made our community stronger and a better place to live.

      • (Feel free to mention any specific recipient organization you value. They are listed in the FAQ below for your reference.)

    • I am asking that you work now to identify a way to move forward with a budget that includes CSG funding for 2027. As a resident, this topic is very important to me. I am absolutely sure that balancing a budget that aligns with our community's priorities is important to you as well.

2. You can give your comments in person at the City Council meeting on September 8th at 5:30 p.m. Please arrive by 5:10 in order to put your name on the list and fill out a comment card, as this is likely to be a busy meeting!

The content suggestions above also all apply to in-person comments. It is important to keep in-person comments short and focused. It is recommended to write your comment in advance and practice reading it aloud so you feel confident when you share your important perspective. Reach out to Clark or shilo if you would like to practice!

3. You can directly contact your mayor and your city council representative by email. Find your ward using the ward map then find your representative’s email and contact them as soon as you can. If you live in one ward but work in another, email both with a slightly different message! It's perfectly fine to just email in a simple two or three sentence message appealing to them to take action to support BOTH Arts ReGrant and Community Service Grants. Save your longer message for step 1.

4. You can get more people involved, the sooner the better. If you have family or friends in town you can reach out to, share your email message with them as a sample, and encourage them to reach out to their representative on the council. We need the numbers to win this.

5. You can directly contact your mayor and your city council representative by phone. Find your ward using the ward map then find your representative’s phone and contact them as soon as you can. If you live in one ward but work in another, call both with a slightly different message! The best way to use this form of contact is to call with the intention of starting a dialogue. Be ready to ask questions about what your representative supports when it comes to the budget process and why. Listen with an open mind. Then, share your perspective. Mention how important this is to others you know in the same ward. Truly, building a relationship with your representative is CRITICAL to strengthening your requests now and in the future. It's also good to be prepared to have to leave a message. Always have a short, friendly script ready that asks open-ended questions of the representative and requests a call back.


TO RECAP:

  • If you only have 10 minutes to spare, please submit an online public comment to the City Council regarding the importance of Arts ReGrant and Community Service Grants BEFORE 4pm on September 8th.
  • If you have 20 minutes to spare, add an email to your mayor and your City Council representative (check the ward map).
  • If you have 30 minutes to spare, call your city council person and talk to them or leave a message with an open mind, then write to more friends and neighbors about how important this issue is to you and urge them to take action.
  • If you have the capacity and time, join us in solidarity during the September 8th City Council meeting. Even if you cannot speak during the meeting, sitting with the group shows you care.

Want to learn more about the City of Grand Forks budget process and what led to this moment? Read on. (A brief FAQ)

How does the budget work? Why am I just hearing about this now?

  • On August 3, the Grand Forks City Council preliminarily approved the mayor’s proposed budget for 2027. Members of the community noted that two items had been zeroed out from the budget (compared with 2026)--a community arts grant program and Community Service Grant funding. The Grand Forks Herald covered this story on August 10. After significant community pushback in the form of dozens of phone calls, dozens of emails, letters to the editor, radio announcements, and many public comments during City Council meetings, Council restored arts funding to the 2027 budget. This is the good news: pushback from the Grand Forks community was successful. However, this is where the bad news begins.
  • Community Service Grants (CSGs) are used to directly address human needs in our area. This includes helping unhoused neighbors, addressing poverty, and nutrition assistance (among many other things!). With CSG funding eliminated from next year’s budget, local groups will be left scrambling to cover services at a time when many are already facing dangerous funding gaps. When pressed on this issue, one council member mentioned that nonprofits can use charitable gaming programs to support their operational costs, which does not reflect the reality of needs in our community, for a number of reasons (e.g.: some organizational missions are not aligned with using gambling as a source of revenue, some organizations who are interested in trying this funding stream are unable to get into any new gaming sites in town, as some organizations control many of the available sites).
  • We know there was support on the City Council to restore CSG funding. Several members expressed sympathy with community concerns and Council Member Berg (Ward 3) moved to restore funding to the budget, but no other members seconded the motion--ending it before formal discussion was even possible. Council members must not be allowed to believe they can ignore the public’s concerns without fear of political consequences.
This is terrible. What can I do?
  • This moment is actually exactly where community members like you come in. While the community rallied around restoring arts funding in the budget, far fewer comments were submitted about CSG funding. We need to strongly show that the community is willing to rally behind CSG funding and there will be political consequences if the City Council ignores us. The pressure is ON.
  • Several agencies in the community are planning efforts to put political pressure on the City Council but we need your help as citizens of Grand Forks. This fight is winnable--but only if we join the fight! Check our five action steps above.

How do I know exactly which organizations benefit from these two funds in the budget? How do these funds even work?
  • Arts ReGrant recipients are required to apply through a grant process managed by City Staff. Applications are reviewed annually by a mayoral-appointed committee of community members. The City has funded this program since 2001. It was previously administered by NoVAC (North Valley Arts Council) and the Community Foundation, but the City of Grand Forks chose to start administering the program directly a few years ago. Applicants are required to submit organizational histories, organizational financial documents, and information about their proposed programming. In the last few years, the committee process has requested that applicants share additional information about how they strategically collaborate with other organizations in the community to share resources, how they make their programs financially sustainable, and the extent to which the program they apply for is new or innovative compared to their usual programs. Requests are limited to $30,000.00, and in 2026 18 requests totaling $283,600 were received, even though only $159,135 was available for the program (Fund 2163). 2026 program awardees, amounts, and brief information on their proposals.
  • The purpose of the CSG Program is to provide funding to agencies that serve the human needs of Grand
    Forks, particularly its low-income populations, and enhance the quality of life for Grand Forks residents.
    This program is funded locally (Fund 2163). Both operating and capital projects are eligible for CSG
    funding. Community Service Grant recipients are required to apply to the City of Grand Forks annually for support with programs that the Community Advisory Committee establishes as a priority. For the 2026 process, the City opened applications for CSG funding on October 9, 2025, with a deadline of October 30, 2025. Seventeen (17) valid applications were submitted requesting a total of $455,443, even though available funding was only $159,135. The minimum request was $10,000, and the maximum request was $31,827. Eleven of the seventeen (11/17) applicants passed the initial vote threshold by the Community Advisory Committee and were eligible for ranking. 2026 program rankings, applicant information, and funding amounts.
  • Both the Arts ReGrant program and the Community Service Grant program are funded through Fund 2163, which is a fund within the City of Grand Forks budget that raises revenue from local sales tax. This fund has budgeted $2.27 million in revenue for 2027.

Is there anything in the news about this? How can I alert other community members?

If you want help writing or editing your comments, contact either of us.

In solidarity,

Clark and shilo

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