In an effort to fund community projects, Missouri City will form a nonprofit on behalf of the city’s Parks and Recreation department. The charitable organization will collect donations, grants and other gifts, which can be put toward projects and initiatives for the department.

City Council authorized city staff at its Feb. 15 meeting to begin filing the necessary paperwork with the Texas Secretary of State and the IRS. Jim Browne, Missouri City interim director of Parks and Recreation, said having a charitable foundation for the department would support the city’s 2015 Missouri City Parks and Recreation Master Plan.

“You have about $35 [million] to $40 million in projects that are identified in that plan without a dedicated funding source,” Browne said. The nonprofit would not substitute city parks funding but rather supplement the department’s resources.

According to City Council meeting documents, a parks and recreation nonprofit could not only accept private individuals’ donations but also contributions from other foundations or state and national grant funding, particularly if that funding is only available to other nonprofits. Browne also cited the “perception” factor.

“People prefer to give to 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organizations much more than they prefer to give to governments,” he said.

Browne is a former director of Sugar Land’s department and cited local examples similar to what Missouri City is planning, including the Sugar Land Legacy Foundation, Cullinan Park Conservancy and the Houston Parks Board.

City staff will file a certificate of formation with the Secretary of State’s office and present a formal set of bylaws for the nonprofit to City Council at a later date. Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen, City Manager Anthony Snipes and City Attorney E. Joyce Iyamu are serving as a temporary board of directors for the organization until successors are chosen.

In the meantime, Browne asked council members to nominate five to 15 community leaders as the initial board and officers for the foundation.

“They need to be philanthropic community leaders,” Browne said.

Neither Browne nor city staff gave an exact timeframe for when the nonprofit would be established and when they could expect the IRS to grant 501 (c)(3) status.