Don’t blow smoke….

Four to five years ago, McMinnville officials were discussing doing away with nonprofit donations. Complaints, or so officials said, were received from city residents that if officials wanted to give tax dollars away then they should give the money back to taxpayers and not to nonprofits. I left the Southern Standard in late 2022. Farewell to my dedicated reporting of such things.

Just as I reentered the scene via Warren County Way, city and county government had wrapped up their fiscal year budgets for 2025-26. The city removed all nonprofit donations. Gone were the financial allocations to, among others, the Rescue Squad, Meals on Wheels, Food Bank, Senior Center, Families in Crisis, Homeless of McMinnville Effort, Main Street McMinnville, and any additional funding for Magness Library and the Chamber of Commerce.

I couldn’t believe that they followed through on removing all charitable contributions and going all out Ebenezer Scrooge on local nonprofits.

City Administrator Nolan Ming provided me the city’s new policy, “The policy is that unless we have a surplus, there will be no non-profit donations other than those that are required or are considered annual fees. It was adopted a year or two ago.”

Thank goodness that was via text message, so he didn’t hear me laugh. I laughed out loud – literally, not the fake text people send one another. After I stopped giggling at the absurdity of that policy, the phrase about smoke being blown and where it’s being blown entered my mind.

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A SURPLUS OF REVENUE. The city’s budget has always been down to the penny, just like Warren County Government’s budget and you don’t see commissioners doing away with philanthropic endeavors.

I asked Nolan when the city last had a surplus, knowing exactly what the answer would be, and he replied, “I can’t recall a time.”

Let’s be upfront and honest here, city officials wanted to do away nonprofit allocations and use those dollars elsewhere. They did it. They were elected to make those types of decisions. However, that policy gave a false glimmer of hope to those affected by the decision knowing full well that the possibility of a surplus lies somewhere between none and none.  

Now, some are blaming the city for Main Street McMinnville’s grant failure, because it cut MSM from $35,000 annually to zero. I can’t go there. City officials gave plenty of notice regarding their intentions. Good or bad. Right or wrong. MSM, for whatever reason, didn’t heed the warning. Why, I have no idea.