CHAPTER 6
IOWA COMMUNITY CULTURAL GRANTS (ICCG) PROGRAM
221—6.1(303) Program purpose. The purpose of the Iowa community cultural grants (ICCG) is to provide a program of grants to cities, county governments, tribal councils and nonprofit, tax-exempt community groups to support the development of community programs which provide jobs for local Iowans while promoting Iowa’s cultural, ethnic, and historical heritages, through the development of festivals, music, drama, cultural programs, historic restorations, and tourism projects.
221—6.2(303) Program description. The ICCG program shall operate as a competitive grants program administered by the department under the direction of the director or designee. Iowa cities, county governments, tribal councils and nonprofit, tax-exempt community groups may make application to the department which will approve or disapprove all submissions based upon published criteria. The ICCG program shall provide funding to successful applications, subject to local matching funds provisions and contractual terms as set forth in an agreement between the department and any successful grant recipient.
221—6.3(303) Definitions. The following definitions shall apply when used in this chapter unless otherwise noted:
“Advisory committee” means the committee comprised of at least three representatives from across the state with expertise in the arts, history, and economic development. The advisory committee shall review each application and make recommendations to the director for funding of eligible projects.
“Application” means an official ICCG application form as provided by the department.
“Community group” means an Iowa nonprofit, tax-exempt organization which is open to the general public and established for the promotion and development of one or more of the following disciplines or activities: the arts, history, culture, ethnicity, historic preservation, tourism, economic development, festivals, or municipal libraries. “Community group” shall not include a school, college, university, political party, labor union, state or federal government agency, religious organization, church, convention, or association of churches operated primarily for religious purposes, or operated, supervised, controlled or principally supported by a religious organization, church, convention, or association of churches. “Community group” also shall not include any organization whose primary purpose is to support any excluded type of organization.
“Department” means the Iowa department of cultural affairs (DCA).
“Director” means the director of the department of cultural affairs, or designee.
“Eligible activity” means a qualified festival; performing, visual, or literary arts project; historic preservation, museum, tourism, or ethnic heritage project which will enhance Iowa’s cultural climate, and which will provide jobs for Iowans while serving the general public.
“Eligible applicant” means an incorporated city in Iowa, county government, tribal council, or an Iowa community group which is federally tax-exempt under United States Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) and incorporated under the Iowa nonprofit corporation Act. Iowa community groups may apply for ICCG funds through a fiscal agent which is federally tax-exempt and otherwise eligible to apply.
“Fiscal agent” means an organization which meets the definition of eligible applicant, and which serves as the legal applicant of record, redistributes the funds to the intended receiver, and is responsible for all published requirements of the ICCG program including contracts, budgets, fiscal records, and reports.
“Grantee” means any applicant receiving grant funds under the ICCG program.
“ICCG” means the Iowa community cultural grants program as administered by the department.
“In-kind contribution” means a noncash contribution provided by a grantee as a part of the grantee’s matching share of a project.
“Matching funds” means those funds which are locally contributed for the specifically funded project and which, when combined with in-kind contributions, shall equal at least 50 percent or more of the total project cost. Matching funds shall be provided by the eligible applicant and shall not include any portion of another department of cultural affairs, Iowa arts council, or state historical society of Iowa grant.
“Proposed project” means an eligible activity for which an eligible applicant has submitted a single application for funding of a single project.
[ARC 7734B, IAB 5/6/09, effective 6/10/09]
221—6.4(303) Application procedures. All ICCG inquiries and correspondence, including the submission of completed application forms for consideration of funding, shall be addressed to the Department of Cultural Affairs, 600 E. Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319, telephone (515)242-6194. All applications shall be submitted according to the department’s published guidelines. Handwritten, out-of-date, or telefacsimile applications shall not be accepted. All applications submitted shall be reviewed by the advisory committee, with the advisory committee’s recommendations for grantees and grant awards being submitted to the director or designee who shall determine final grantees’ awards to the extent funds are available.
221—6.5(303) Review criteria. Review criteria shall include the following minimum criteria:
	1.	The historical, ethnic, cultural, and tourism value and quality of the proposed project;
	2.	The number and impact of full- and part-time employment for Iowans created by the proposed project;
	3.	The degree of collaboration with other interested entities;
	4.	The financial need of the applicant for the proposed project; and
	5.	The appropriateness of the project budget.
Additional review criteria are as listed in the published project guidelines.
221—6.6(303) Award amounts. Grant awards shall be made from $1,000 at a minimum to $25,000 at a maximum. The director reserves the right not to grant all appropriated funds if there is an insufficient number of applications submitted to adequately achieve the purposes of the Act as defined in rule 221—6.1(303).
221—6.7(303) Grant deadline. The department may establish one or more grant deadlines for the submission of ICCG applications each year funds are available.
221—6.8(303) Contractual agreement. The department and each successful grantee shall enter into a contractual agreement prior to the expenditure of project-related funds. No grant or matching funds may be obligated or expended for the project prior to the execution of the contractual agreement by the department and the grantee. A grantee must expend all awarded funds within the fiscal year named in the contractual agreement.
221—6.9(303) Auditing requirements. The department reserves the right to request an audit of the expenditures of any ICCG-funded project at the expense of the grantee and may also require the grantee to submit copies of expense documentation prior to or in support of a reimbursement claim.
221—6.10(303) Informal appeals. An informal appeals process shall be made available only to applicants whose applications were declined on procedural impropriety or error as evidenced by one or more of the following reasons:
	1.	Application declined on the basis of review criteria other than those appearing in rule or relevant guidelines;
	2.	Application declined based on influence of the advisory committee willfully failing to disclose conflicts of interest;
	3.	Application declined based upon highly erroneous information provided by staff or advisory committee members at the time of the review despite the fact that the applicant provided the department with accurate and complete information on regulation forms as part of the standard application process. Incomplete, ineligible, or applications failing to meet the annual deadline are specifically denied any appeals process. All requests for appeals shall be made in writing and shall be hand-delivered or bear a U.S. Postal Service postmark within 30 days of notification of the decision. The director shall consider and rule on the appeal and will notify the appellant in writing of the decision within 30 days from the receipt of the appeal. The decision of the director is final except as provided for in Iowa Code sections 17A.19 to 17A.20.
These rules are intended to implement Iowa Code sections 303.1(1) and 303.3.
[Filed emergency 7/29/83—published 8/17/83, effective 7/29/83]
[Filed emergency 7/12/84 after Notice 6/6/84—published 8/1/84, effective 7/12/84]
[Filed emergency after Notice 9/20/85, Notice 7/3/85—published 10/9/85, effective 9/20/85]
[Filed emergency 10/21/86—published 11/19/86, effective 10/21/86]
[Filed emergency 2/20/87—published 3/11/87, effective 2/20/87]
[Filed 12/21/87, Notice 6/3/87—published 1/13/88, effective 2/17/88]
[Filed emergency 8/28/91—published 9/18/91, effective 8/28/91]
[Filed 8/7/96, Notice 7/3/96—published 8/28/96, effective 10/2/96]
[Filed 4/24/02, Notice 3/20/02—published 5/15/02, effective 6/30/02]
[Filed 11/14/07, Notice 10/10/07—published 12/5/07, effective 1/9/08]
[Filed 12/15/08, Notice 11/5/08—published 1/14/09, effective 2/18/09]
[Filed ARC 7734B (Notice ARC 7589B, IAB 2/25/09), IAB 5/6/09, effective 6/10/09]