Changes coming to Grey Highlands community grant program
Grey Highlands council will be considering a number of changes to its community grant program.
On April 24, council met as committee of the whole to consider a staff report recommending numerous changes and updates to the community grant program.
The program provides financial assistance - either through direct cash grants or in-kind support like the waiving of rental fees for community halls – to local community groups holding events and programming in the municipality. A separate municipal committee reviews the applications and makes recommendations to council about which applications should be approved.
However, over the five years since the program was reactivated (the community grant program has been dormant for a number of years until it was re-established in 2019) the municipality has seen an increase in the number of applications for funding. In addition, funding requests have been increasingly moving away from the program’s criteria.
“Over time, the current Community Grant Program has become a catch-all instrument for requests for funding and support from the municipality where no other mechanism exists, which has led to the approval of requests that fell outside approved parameters for the Community Grant Program. This has placed additional strain on available municipal budget and resources,” said Michele Harris, the municipality’s director of community and economic development, in a report.
At the meeting, Harris explained that staff was recommending changes to the program to focus on the goals and criteria set by council.
“It will provide clarity and ensure it’s supporting the objectives council wants to achieve,” said Harris.
In recent years, the program has seen grants approved to pay property taxes on privately owned buildings used by the community, as well as capital projects at privately owned buildings.
In light of the changing nature of the program, council requested a staff report and review of the program. At committee of the whole, staff returned with a lengthy report recommending a number of changes to the community grant program that included limiting the scope of what kinds of applications are eligible for funding.
As council dove into the recommendations, they acknowledged they were facing difficult choices.
“The discussion today will be a tough one,” said Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen, who chaired the meeting in the absence of Mayor Paul McQueen. Nielsen added that council is going to set new rules and parameters for the community grant program. “This is the criteria and we’re going to follow the criteria.”
A key focus for council was a new community grants process that would be accountable and transparent to all involved.
Coun. Paul Allen said a close look at the entire program was needed.
“Is it the municipality’s job to support or to finance community events, things for people to do? Is that our job? Or is that the job of other groups? We’re using taxpayer money and not everybody goes to these events,” said Allen. “I’m not saying it is or isn’t.”
Other members of council were concerned that strict rules around community grants and the ability to waive community hall rental fees could create a backlash in the community.
Coun. Dan Wickens said it was counterintuitive to stop waiving hall rental fees for local groups volunteering to raise funds to be used to support those same halls.
“It takes a special kind of person to be a volunteer,” said Wickens. “They’re going to get their backs up. I really think they will.”
Council Joel Loughead said council had to be careful not to bring the hammer down.
“There is a lot of subtlety to this conversation. When you create barriers to volunteers, you lose some of that community spirit,” said Loughead. “I’m hesitant to create too strict boundaries around the ability to volunteer. I’m struggling with the best way to create that framework - with accountability and transparency - without making it so rigid that we lose the soft edge.”
During the meeting, the committee approved a series of recommendations that will be sent to a full council meeting for approval.
They included:
Council rejected a staff recommendation to implement a $2,500 maximum for any cash grant or request for in-kind support. The majority of the committee felt setting the limits would be premature considering the changes made during the discussion and the request for a subsequent staff report about how to fund ongoing events through a separate budget.
The recommendations will be considered by council at a future meeting. If they are implemented, they will apply to the 2025 community grant program.
Chris Fell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, CollingwoodToday.ca
