Overview

Competitive Grants – Overview

Proposition K ordered the allocation of one hundred forty three million, six hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($143,650,000) of the total amount generated over 30 years through an open and competitive process for public agencies, City departments and nonprofit organizations. All recipients of funds under Prop K must demonstrate an ability to provide ongoing programming at the facility in order to receive funds. This is the match required under Prop K.

The Bureau of Engineering's Recreational & Cultural Faculties Program (RCFP) administers the open and competitive process to allocate funds under the L.A. FOR KIDS Program. RCFP is responsible for developing the Request for Proposals (RFP), evaluating and rating submitted proposals, and recommending prospective grant recipients to the L.A. FOR KIDS Steering Committee and City Council for approval. 

In addition, the RCFP also prepares RFPs for the Vermont Western Station Neighborhood Area Plan (SNAP) Parks First Trust Fund and Health Alternatives to Tobacco Smoking (HATS) Trust Fund on an occasional basis, as funds become available. 

On September 16, 2025, the Los Angeles City Council approved the RFP for the remaining SNAP and HATS funds which will be released on September 19, 2025.   

The Parks First Program was established to expand recreational space within the Vermont/Western Station Neighborhood Area Plan (SNAP) boundaries that portions of Council District 13 and smaller portions of Council Districts 4 and 10 (See map on Page 38 of the  2025 RFP).  Approximately $ 1.4M will be made available for eligible competitive grant proposals from the Park First Trust Fund Neighborhood Area Plan (SNAP) are eligible (see map on page 38).  The area falls within the boundaries of Council Districts 4, 10 and 13.

In July 1999, the Los Angeles City Council approved the Health Alternatives to Smoking (HATS) Trust Fund (Ordinance No. 172727). The HATS Trust Fund was created to disburse monies collected from the National Tobacco Settlement. Monies from the fund may only be used for the acquisition of park land and recreation improvements in under-served areas.

It is anticipated that approximately $640,000 will be made available under the HATS Program in the 2025 RFP. Under-served areas are census tracts that meet all of the following criteria based on the latest available census (See RFP, pages 12–14)

• Above average youth in poverty (greater than 36 percent);
• Above average persons 18 and under (greater than 26 percent);
• Below average acreage in parks (less than 2 percent); and
• Not adjacent to major parks or national forest land

In the Proposition K ballot measure, eight categories of funding were identified and assigned a total amount of funding for the 30 year life of the Proposition K grant program (ending in Fiscal Year 2026/27). To date, all of the required Competitive Grant Funds for each Category listed below have been awarded.

Competitive grant funds are awarded to improvement projects in the following categories: