The Murfreesboro City Council voted Thursday, May 22, 2025, to approve the Community Investment Trust funding of qualified charitable organizations in FY26. For that fiscal year, $490,696 will be distributed to twenty-nine (29) charitable organizations.
Council approval represents the final approval needed to award funds to the selected charitable organizations. The Committee on Contributions recommends grants to the Community Investment Trust (CIT) Board of Trustees. The Board approves the grants and forwards them to Council for final review.
“It is exciting each year to see the benefit of the Trust established by Council in 2021. The Trust will assure the community receives increasing benefits well into the future.” said Mayor Shane McFarland. “On behalf of the City Council I want to thank the members of the Board of Trustees and Committee on Contributions for their dedication to this effort benefiting our community. Within two years, the City has been able to nearly double the funding going to local non-profits.”
“It was again an honor to serve on the Committee on Contributions,” said Committee Chair Carl D. Montgomery, “Using our highly objective grant funding process of scoring and reviewing charitable agencies and their projects, we funded 66 percent of the applicants. As the Trust funding increases over the years, we look forward to funding an even greater number of non-profits in our community.”
Each fiscal year, the Murfreesboro Community Investment Trust distributes five percent of its balance. Fifteen percent of that distribution is allocated to qualified charitable organizations. The remaining amount will fund community projects through the City. For the FY25-26 grant process, the Trust will distribute $490,696 to charitable organizations.
Since funding began, the Trust has disbursed more than $850,000 to charitable organizations. Additionally, the Trust has contributed almost $5,000,000 to other projects benefiting the community, such as parks and roadways. The amount of annual funding to both is anticipated to grow as the Trust balance increases in the future.
In the Fall of 2025, the Committee on Contributions of the Murfreesboro Community Investment Trust invited will accept applications for grants that will be awarded to eligible charitable organizations serving the Murfreesboro community. Interested applicants are encouraged to review the Trust’s Grant Application website for more information: https://www.murfreesborotn.gov/2562/Community-Grant-Application
Members of the Trust’s Borad of Trustees are: Kevin Gentry, chair, Shawn Applegate, Anne C. Davis, Stephen F. Flatt, Rick LaLance, Lee M. Moss, and Richard C Stone, Jr.
Members of the Committee on Contributions are: Carl D. Montgomery, chair, John A. Hinkle, Jr., Lynn Lien, Lyle Lynch, Wade Hays, Ronnie Martin, Collier Andress Smith.
The Murfreesboro Community Investment Trust was established in 2021 from the proceeds of the sale of the City’s electric department to Middle Tennessee Electric Cooperative. The purposes of the Trust are set forth in the Trust Agreement as follows:
- To support projects and programs of the City or other nonprofit institutions that benefit the City’s inhabitants and improve or enhance the quality of life of the City’s inhabitants or aid civic or other public improvements;
- To promote and advance the social welfare of the inhabitants of the City;
- To promote and support educational and recreational programs, facilities, and opportunities within the City;
- To fund public works within or benefiting the City; and
- To advance the general welfare of the City and its residents
For City News online, visit www.Murfreesborotn.gov.
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