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Over the past two months, the Troy City Council approved contracts for services with several organizations that provide services within the community.

No municipality in Alabama can simply appropriate money to an organization.

Section 94 of the Alabama Constitution of 1901 prohibits municipalities from giving anything of value to any private individual or group of individuals. The prohibition also bars donations to private, nonprofit corporations, even if these organizations benefit the public.

Section 94 does not prohibit municipalities from contracting with private companies and individuals for services. For example, although a municipality cannot give money to the Girl Scouts of America, the municipality may compensate the Girl Scouts for legitimate services they can perform for the municipality.

Mayor Jason Reeves explained that the entities the city has contracted with have been “very longstanding.”

“The overwhelming majority of the organizations we fund have been in force to some degree at least during my 24 years with the City of Troy,” Reeves said. “Many of the organizations provide a number of services in regards to quality of life or education.”

This is how much the city will pay each organization contracted for FYE2020: $4,000 to Keep Troy Beautiful, $12,000 to the Alabama Co-op Extension Service

$20,000 to the Christian Love Center, $135,144 to East Central Mental Health, $10,000 to the Pike County Emergency Management Agency, $6,000 to the Pioneer Museum of Alabama, $16,000 to Pike County Soil and Water Conservation, $6,312 to South Central Alabama Development Commission, $8,000 to Teen Advisors, $16,000 to Troy Arts and Humanities, $40,000 to the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, $30,000 to the Troy-Pike Cultural Arts Center and $15,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Pike and Surrounding Counties.