Application Requirements.
Jacksonville Ordinance Code § 118.911
in effectSec. 118.911. - Application Requirements.
(a) Application Deadline. A requesting organization may submit an Eastside Grants Program grant application after the date that the City Council approves the percentage of funds allocated to the Eastside Grants Program Funded Categories pursuant to this Part, but no later than July 1 of each fiscal year, with the exception that applications for the initial Eastside Grants Program grant cycle (Fiscal Year 2026-2027) shall be due no later than August 1, 2026. The Manager shall prescribe one or more methods that applications may be submitted, which may include in person, electronically, or through an online application.
(b) Application Contents. Each application for an Eastside Grants Program grant submitted by a requesting organization pursuant to this Part shall contain the following information:
(1) The Eligibility Documents pursuant to Section 118.910.
(2) A Cover Page containing the following information:
a. Name of the requesting organization;
b. Name of the program, service, project, or initiative;
c. The Funded Category that the program, service, project, or initiative will serve;
d. Amount of the grant request;
e. The fiscal year for which the requesting organization is submitting a grant request;
f. The following certification executed (electronically or manually) by the executive director, chief executive or operating officer, president, vice president or board chairman in the form below:
"I, name/title, hereby certify that the information and representations contained in this fiscal year _______ Eastside Grants Program grant application is true and correct."
By: _______
Print Name/Title: _______
Date: _______
(3) A section entitled "Organization Background and Experience" containing a description of the requesting organization's board (number of members, length of service of each member, and relevant experience of each member), executive staff (e.g., executive director, chief executive or operating officer, chief financial officer), and the requesting organization's experience and accomplishments within the Eastside and in the area of the Funded Category applied for. This section may without limitation describe the requesting organization's mission, future plans, and major programs, services, projects, or initiatives that support Duval County and/or the Eastside (maximum three pages or 7,500 characters for an online application).
(4) A section entitled "Program/Service/Project/Initiative Overview" containing a description of the program, service, project, or initiative and how it will address the applicable Funded Category applied under. This section may include, without limitation, partnerships with other programs or organizations as applicable (maximum three pages or 7,500 characters for an online application).
(5) A section entitled "Program/Service/Project/Initiative Activities" containing a list of all activities that the program, service, project, or initiative will offer or provide and a brief description of each activity (maximum one page or 2,500 characters for an online application).
(6) A section entitled "Program/Service/Project/Initiative Management and General Overhead" containing a description of the management and staff positions that will be required to successfully operate the program, service, project, or initiative and the general overhead of the organization. This section may include, without limitation, potential fundraising capacity, plan, strategy and funding partners for the program, service, project, or initiative as well as how the program, service, project, or initiative will be sustained in future years (maximum three pages or 7,500 characters for an online application).
(7) A section entitled "Operating Budget and Budget Narrative" which lists all line-item expenses and revenues to operate or complete, as applicable, the program, service, project, or initiative during the fiscal year and contains a brief description of each line-item expense. The expenses and revenues must balance (maximum two pages or 5,000 characters for an online application, not including the approved form).
(8) A section entitled "Program/Service/Project/Initiative Impact and Effectiveness" containing a description of: (i) the program, service, project, or initiative's goals and objectives and how attainment of the goals and objectives will be measured; (ii) the program, service, project, or initiative's achievements during the year immediately preceding the application or, for new programs, services, projects, or initiatives, a description of national studies, qualitative measures, best practices and successes of similar programs, services, projects, or initiatives, citing the sources and national standards relied upon for this information, as applicable; (iii) the projected program/service/project/initiative impact on the applicable Funded Category and the anticipated number of people or area of Eastside to be served by the program, service, project, or initiative; and (iv) a listing of each noncompliance incident within the past three years that has resulted in the requesting organization being placed on the Council Auditor's Chapter 118 noncompliance list. Such list shall set forth with respect to each noncompliance incident: (a) the noncompliance dates (e.g., the start date and end date), and (b) an explanation for the noncompliance (maximum four pages, not including the information required in item (iv) above) (maximum 4 pages or 10,000 characters for an online application).
(c) Application Format. The application shall have one-inch margins and contain no more than 16 single-sided, double-spaced 8½ inch by 11 inch pages. The font style shall be Times New Roman or Arial with a minimum font size of 11 points and a maximum font size of 12. The Cover Page and Eligibility Documents will not be counted as part of the 16-page limit. The Eligibility Documents may be included as appendices. The Committee may create a form application consistent with the requirements of this Part, provided that the Committee may not add to or remove any of the application contents prescribed in subsection (b) above without City Council approval. Eastside Grants Program grant applications submitted electronically shall approximate the format required in this subsection (c) to the greatest extent possible. Applications submitted through an online application system shall comply with the maximum character counts.
(d) Interviews. The Committee may, in its sole discretion, conduct interviews of requesting organizations in a Funding Category regarding their respective Eastside Grants Program grant applications. If the Committee elects to interview one requesting organization in a Funded Category, the Committee shall also interview the other requesting organizations in said Funded Category. Any interviews conducted by the Committee pursuant to this subsection shall be after the grant application deadline but prior to October 1, with the exception that the Committee may conduct such interviews through July 31, 2026, for the first cycle of grant applications for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. The Committee shall notify the requesting organization of the place and time of the interviews. Such interviews shall be conducted pursuant to Florida's open meetings laws and for the sole purpose of the requesting organization verbally explaining, clarifying or justifying to the Committee any information contained in the requesting organization's application. A requesting organization shall not add any new written information or materials to its application, or present any new written information or materials to the Committee regarding its application, during such interviews.
(e) Certain Communications Prohibited During the Application Scoring Period. During the Application Scoring Period, a requesting organization shall be prohibited from communicating with Committee members, the Manager, and other City employees involved in the Eastside Grants Program grants process regarding an application submitted by such organization pursuant to this Part. For purposes of this Section, the "Application Scoring Period" shall mean the period each fiscal year commencing on the day immediately following the grant application deadline in Section 118.911 and ending on the day that the Manager has received the scoring for all eligible applications pursuant to Section 118.912. This prohibition also includes communications by a requesting organization with the City's Office of General Counsel unless the Manager has authorized such communications in advance. This prohibition shall not apply to the following communications:
(1) Communications to the Manager regarding matters of process or procedure contained in this Part, including, but not limited to, the grant appeals procedure in Section 118.915;
(2) Communications during any publicly noticed meeting under F.S. Ch. 286, including, but not limited to, Committee meetings and subcommittee meetings; and
(3) Communications that are necessary and solely related to the ordinary course of business concerning a requesting organization's existing Eastside Grants Program grant contract(s), if any.
(f) Disqualification; Notification. If a requesting organization's application fails to include the items and section headings specified in this Section 118.911, or fails to meet the format requirements of subsection 118.911(c) above, such application shall not be considered and reviewed by the Committee. As long as an application contains the required section headings outlined above, together with some information describing the same, and is properly formatted, such application shall be deemed to have complied with the requirements of this Section. Failure by a requesting organization to provide adequate information under each required section may result in a lower application score and ranking.
The Manager shall notify requesting organizations, in writing, within three business days of the Manager's decision to qualify or disqualify such requesting organization's application from consideration and review by the Committee. Such notice shall specify the reasons for the disqualification and the requesting organization's right to appeal the decision pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 118.915. The Manager shall inform the Committee of the requesting organizations deemed by the Manager to be disqualified pursuant to this Section at the earliest Committee meeting following the Manager's determination.
(Ord. 2026-36-E, § 1)
Source: City of Jacksonville, Ordinance Code and Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/fl/jacksonville/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITVADPE_CH118CIGR_PT9EACOGRPR_S118.911APREFetched: 10/27/2026