Olathe is taking steps to determine the future of its mostly unused charitable community fund.
Earlier this month, the Olathe City Council voted 7-0 to move ahead with a feasibility study for the Olathe Community Fund.
The study — which will piggyback on an ongoing study with BPS Philanthropic Advisors on whether to set up a charitable fund to support the Olathe Animal Shelter — will cost $12,500 and be paid for with dollars in the community fund.
Initially, the feasibility study was part of the consent agenda, but Councilmember Dean Vakas removed it for more discussion on the matter.
Looking back on the Olathe Community Fund
When the city first stood up the Olathe Community Fund in 2018, the idea was to use the money for things beyond the municipal government’s typical focus, but specifics about what that might look like were sparse.
Today, the fund has grown to roughly $136,000 but has sat mostly untouched without a clear mission and no governing bylaws.
The money was primarily raised through the compulsory $3,000 minimum contributions from developers that receive local economic development incentives, like industrial revenue bonds. Additionally, one private donor gave $75,000 to it.
According to the city’s code, the fund is intended to “promote cultural, educational, recreational, artistic, charitable, and environmental activities that enrich the lives of the residents of the City.”
Before using some of the fund’s cash to commission the feasibility study, it had been used just one time; a $6,000 purchase of a memorial bust of the late Mayor Mike Copeland that now sits in the Civic Center Park that bears his name in front of the downtown Olathe Public Library branch.
Late last year, the city council — which serves as the board over the community fund but until that point had hardly discussed it — took a look at it. At the time, city leaders and staff were skeptical about whether the fund was even viable. The consensus was to instruct staff to contract out for a study on it with the hope that it would gauge the appetite of the general community to have such a fund in the first place.
“I just don’t think we should just let it sit here and do nothing,” Mayor John Bacon said in October 2024.
During the April 1 city council meeting, the attitude among the councilmembers was mostly the same, echoing a desire for more information before making a decision.
What’s next for the Olathe Community Fund?
Last year, Tim Danneberg, the director of external affairs and issues management for Olathe, told the city council that there were ultimately a few options for how to proceed.
One would be to dissolve the Olathe Community Fund entirely and redirect the compulsory giving from developers receiving incentives to a different charitable fund the city already has, like Friends of Mahaffie or the Olathe Mayor’s Children’s Fund.
Another option would be to keep the Olathe Community Fund as is but establish formal bylaws to govern it more clearly.
Olathe could also turn the community fund into an independent charitable organization, completely separate from the governance of the city, albeit with a clear mission to seek out donations from private individuals.
Additionally, the city could maintain control of the fund and turn it into what Danneberg called an “umbrella fund.” If that were to happen, then the Olathe Community Fund would still exist and it would be over other charitable organizations that are associated with the city, like the fund for Mahaffie or the Olathe Friends of the Library.
Next steps:
- Exactly what path the city council takes for the fund will hinge on the recommendations from the study.
- A recommendation could come to the city council as soon as June, as the study is expected to take just two months, Danneberg said earlier this month.
- He also said that the community fund study would likely come to the city council for additional discussion or staff report before the governing body would take action.
Keep reading: Olathe’s charitable fund sits largely untouched. What can city do with $136K?
