Council OKs
$60,000 For
*
DP Agencies
Is the city of Des Plaines
contributing too much money
to the support of local social
service agencies?
Aid. Nick Chiropolos (7th)
said be thought so before the
City Council voted Monday to
approve contributing a total
of $60,000 to 14 different
agencies which requested city
funding.
Chiropolos recommended
this week that a "cap" of
$50,000 per year be placed on
such city contributions.
Such a cap, he said, is neces-
sary because federal revenue
sharing has dried up as a source
of funds for municipalities.
"All of the budget is now
city money," Chiropolos said.
"Before, a lot of it was com-
ing from revenue sharing
funds."
But Aid. Margaret "Peggy"
Wetter (3d), chairman oftne
council's community service
committee, said it would be "a
very difficult task” to make
cuts in funding for any of the
agencies in question.
"1 would certainly feel that
these are monies well spent,
and they are going to help very
worthy causes," wetter said.
"They all come back to us
each year asking for more.”
Wcuer added. She noted that
although the city contributed
only $60,000 to the organiza-
tions this year, they had asked
for a total of $98,000.
"I would be more interested
in the suggestion that we
limit funding so that no one
single agency cm receive more
than one-third of the total
bucket,” she said.
The largest recipient of city
funding this year is the
Northwest Suburban Day Care
Center, which is receiving
$17,000, or about 28% of the
total.
Other agencies getting
money from the city this year
include: the Des Plaines Police
Boys Club, $6,500; the Salva-
tion Army, $6,000; Maine
Center for Mental Health,
$5,300; Des Plaines Senior
Center, $5,000; Shelter Inc.,
$4.200; and Rainbow Hospice,
$4,000.
Other agencies receiving
funds include the Self-Help
Food Closet, $3,500; Special
People Inc., $3,000; Fighting
Back-DisL 214, $2,000; the
Des Plaines Arts Council, the
Suburban Primary Health Care
Council and The Harbour Inc.,
$1,000 each; and FISH of Des
Plaines, $500.
The organizations should re-
ceive their contributions from
the city early in April, Wetter
said.
Another group, the Minor-
ity Economic Resources Corp also requested city funding but
did not receive it, Wetter said,
because they are already re-
ceiving "considerable" funding
from a block grant program.
