Committee of the Whole

TO: Council
DATE: December 8, 2011
FROM: Kathleen Day, Director of Finance
MEETING DATE: December 13, 2011
FILE NO.:

Grant in Aid Policy F-200.12

RECOMMENDATION:

TO direct staff to bring forward an amended Grant-in-Aid policy to Council for consideration.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER'S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To update the Grant in Aid policy with the criterion currently being used to approve grants-in-aid.

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Policy F-200.12;
2. Survey of 2011 Grant in Aids Approved by CRD Municipalities; and
3. CRD Municipalities Grant in Aid Policy Summary

BACKGROUND:

During the 2011 grant-in-aid approval process, Council requested to review the current Grant-In-Aid Policy.

Council Policy # F-200.12, Grants-In-Aid, allocates financial support to local entities/organizations, with defined parameters. These parameters are:

1. Organizations should rely on their own resources to continue their operations rather than continual on-going financial assistance from the Town. Council will only consider applications for grants-in-aid on the basis that the request is for "startup assistance" or a "one time special project" of the organization. a. (NOTE: Existing annual grants made by Council are not limited by this section.)
2. Generally, any organizations that are asking for grants must provide complete details of their membership list, as those with 50% or more View Royal resident membership will be a priority.
3. All organizations applying for grants must show they are maximizing revenue from other sources; and that their application for a municipal grant is a last resort.
4. The deadline for grant applications is established at November 15 of each year; to be advertised at the beginning of each year.
5. Preference for consideration for municipal grants will be given to those organizations serving View Royal.
6. Council does not hold a mandate to spend the Taxpayers dollars on charitable organizations. Council believes that if the taxpayers wish their money spent on or towards charitable organizations, the individual has the opportunity of doing so without being compelled to support an organization through their tax dollars they may feel is not worthy.

For 2011, Council approved $135,738 for grants in aid to the following organizations:

1. The Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team received 50% of the grant-in-aid upfront, and will receive the remaining 50% upon completion of the project and submission of a final report.

BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:

None.

Currently the annual budget for Grants-in-Aid is set during the annual budget process.

Council could define a maximum annual amount in the policy.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS:

• Two criterion in Policy # F-200.12 require review:
  • Funding is only available for startup assistance or one-time special projects, and
    • Only two organizations receiving on-going operational assistance meet the exemption criteria and are eligible for on-going assistance under this policy; these are Shoreline Community School and Beacon Community Services.
  • Funding is not available to charitable organizations.
    • Interpretation of this clause could be that Council will not provide a grant-in-aid to any charitable organization, even if the request is for a one-time special project.
    • Many organizations requesting funding for one-time special projects are charitable organizations.

PROJECT INFORMATION:

To review the policy, the finance committee may wish to direct staff to bring forward an amended policy based on the following:

1. Operational Assistance
   • Include criterion to support the provision of operational assistance to organizations.
2. Charitable Organizations
   • Amend paragraph 6 to only exclude the provision of a "donation" to a charitable organization, thus permitting Council to contribute to one time projects of charitable organizations. i. The definition of Donation would be "a contribution towards the fundamental day to day operations of the charitable organization".
     OR
   • Leave the policy as is, and refuse Grant-in-Aid requests to organizations that qualify as a charity (hold a charity number that permits donations to be tax deductible)
3. Eligible Organizations
   • Review the list to determine if the list is still relevant.
   • Define the word Organizations. Does this mean a registered non-profit society or may it be any non-profit organization.
   • Council may also wish to not use an Eligible Organization List, but a define specific areas you wish to support:

     Area	% of 2011 grants (Excluding one-time special grants)
     i. Youth	49.0 %
     ii. Culture and Heritage	24.2 %
     iii. Environmental / Greenway Development	15.5 %
     iv. Festivals	1.3 %

4. Requirements to Release the Grant
   • Currently there are no requirements to release the grants.
   • For 2011, Grants in Aid for a specific purpose were paid after the event had taken place unless special arrangements were made in advance.
5. Deadline – November 15th of each year
   • The advertised deadline for the Towns Grant in Aid has been February 1 each year as the deliberations and grant approvals occur during the budget process.
   • Without a pre-determined budget for Grants in Aid each year, the deadline should not be earlier than February 1.

ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Do not amend Grant-in-Aid Policy F-200.12.

RECOMMENDATION:

TO direct staff to bring forward an amended Grant-in-Aid policy to Council for consideration.

SUBMITTED BY:
Kathleen Day, Director of Finance

REVIEWED BY:
Kim Anema, Chief Administrative Officer