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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office said it was illegal for the city of Pensacola to accept funds from the Escambia Children’s Trust Fund to establish a city-managed children’s resource center.
In a formal letter dated Dec. 21, Senior Assistant Attorney General Teresa Mussetto wrote that it is the attorney general’s office’s view that Children’s Trusts cannot fund children’s resources managed or owned by cities. He said that.
Moussette said the law allows the children’s trust to provide funding to other agencies in the county that “operate for the benefit of children.”
“The question, then, is whether the City of Pensacola is considered such an entity in this case,” Mussetto wrote. “…the City proposes to use public tax dollars to acquire some City-owned land for lease to other entities, but not in the interest of children, as described in § 125.901. It is not a county agency operated for the benefit of the county. ”
Moussette said the Children’s Trust is allowed to purchase property for its own use, but is restricted to using it only as a children’s center and cannot donate the property to the city. .
Last year, Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves proposed a $3.5 million grant from the Escambia Children’s Trust to purchase the Morris L. Eady Lakeview Activity Center at Lakeview Center and create a children’s resource center. did. The center will be operated by the city in partnership with the Northwest Florida Regional Health Department and Lakeview Center and will provide a central location for children’s services.
The proposals have raised some questions about how the Children’s Trust will process grant applications. One question is whether the trust will fund the purchase of property after the campaigner who created it indicated it would not use the funds to buy property, and the board has already confirmed that the grantee had a policy of not using funds to pay for building renovations. .
In August, the Children’s Trust board voted unanimously to ask the attorney general’s office for an opinion on whether it could legally purchase property for another organization.
Tammy Greer, the Children’s Trust’s executive director at the time, said she questioned whether the city was eligible to request funds under the trust’s “sole source” provider policy. Mr. Greer resigned a week later.
In his letter, Moussette noted that the attorney general has not investigated the issue of whether the city is the sole informant. According to the Children’s Trust, a Sole Source Special Community Initiative is a project carried out by only one organization or partnership that provides a specialist service.
The city of Pensacola has already received $1.7 million in funding from the Children’s Trust for a three-year grant to provide after-school childcare programs at city community centers. It is unclear what implications this opinion will have on the grant award.
Both Pensacola and Escambia Children’s Trust are evaluating the attorney general’s office’s decision.
Tammy Abrams, interim director of the Children’s Trust, told the News Journal: “We will not be commenting at this time as we explore our options and meet with our executive committee to determine our future direction.” Told.
Pensacola spokesperson Dominic Epps told the News Journal that the city is “currently reviewing the Florida Attorney General’s opinion and will consider next steps after further consultation with city staff.” Ta.
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