ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: October 22, 2002
Author/Local: G. Yuill / 604-871-276

RTS No. 03030

CC File No. 2201

CS&B: November 7, 2002

TO:	Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM:	General Manager of Corporate Services
SUBJECT:	2002 `Other' Grants Requests

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT a grant of $49,441 to the Vancouver City Planning Commission be approved; source of funds to be the 2002 'OTHER' Grants Budget.

CONSIDERATION

B. THAT a grant of $3,500 (2001 funding level) be approved to the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver; source of funds to be 2002 'OTHER' Grants budget.

C. THAT a grant of $4,000 be approved to the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C.; source of funds to be 2002 'OTHER' Grants budget.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Corporate Services RECOMMENDS approval of Recommendation A. Grant requests B and C are submitted for Council's CONSIDERATION.

POLICY

Applications for grants under the 'OTHER' Grants category are to be submitted to the City before March 31 of the current budget year, and the requests are generally submitted to Council in a single report.

Approval of grants requires eight affirmative votes of Council.

PURPOSE

This report presents requests for funding under the 'Other' Grant categories:

- 'Other' - Annual Recurring Grant
- 'Other' - Miscellaneous Grant

BACKGROUND

Council established the 'Other' Grants budget to provide funding for grant requests which do not meet the criteria for Community Services, Cultural, Childcare or Environmental grants. On June 22, 1989, Council approved the restructuring of the 'Other' Grant funding into three separate categories: Major Facilities, Annual Recurring and Miscellaneous. Funding is also provided for specific programs and one-time grant requests that come before Council throughout the year.

The 2002 funding ceiling for the annual recurring and miscellaneous categories of the 'Other' Grants budget is $408,000. To date, $363,324 of this allocation has been distributed as grants or reserved for on-going grant programs such as the Vancouver City Planning Commission. The current unallocated balance is $44,676.

On December 12, 2001, Council approved monthly installments of $4,042 to the Vancouver City Planning Commission, in advance of consideration of the individual 2002 Operating Grant requests, source of funds to be 'Other' Grants Budget.

On October, 10, 2002, Council approved a permanent reallocation of $48,000 from the Miscellaneous category to support the creation of a "Celebration" grants category for community-based festivals and celebrations. This will be implemented in 2003 and does not change the funding available for 'Other' Grants in 2002.

DISCUSSION

1) 'Other' - Annual Recurring
The recurring grant category is intended to include those requests that Council funds on a regular basis.

A. Vancouver City Planning Commission Recommended $49,441

Requested $49,427
2001 funding $48,504

Funding for the Vancouver City Planning Commission (VCPC) is provided by way of an annual grant from Council. The grant is based on an annual budget prepared by the Commission and is supported by annual financial statements. The funding arrangement requires the City to compensate the Commission for a prior year's loss or to reduce the grant amount by the prior year's surplus.

The VCPC has submitted an operating grant request (Appendix A on file in the City Clerk's Office) totalling $49,427. This request represents an inflationary 1.75% increase over the 2001 funding level of $48,577. The 2001 actual spend was $48,591 representing a deficit of $14 compared to budget of $48,577. The recommended funding for 2002 taking into account the deficit is $49,441.

B. Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver Consideration $3,500

Requested $5,000
2001 funding $3,500

The City has provided financial assistance to the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver since 1989. The grants, ranging from $1,500 to $3,500, have been used toward the cost of events sponsored by the Association, including the New Year's Lions Dance. In 2001, a grant of $3,500 was approved. Financial statements provided by the Association indicated that it completed the 2001 fiscal year in a positive position of $11,980, with cash on hand and term deposits totalling $36,840.

The Association has submitted a 2002 grant request of $ 5,000 (Appendix B on file in the City Clerk's Office). The grant is requested to offset costs related to the annual Chinese New Year Parade.

The Chinese Benevolent Association is the only community group providing street activities that receives ongoing support through the 'Other' grants budget. Moreover, as noted from the financial information provided by the Society, these activities did not leave the Association in a deficit position. As a result, the Director of Finance submits this funding request for CONSIDERATION. If approved, the 2002 funding should be held at not more than 2001 approved levels of $3,500.

2) 'Other' - Miscellaneous
The Miscellaneous category is intended to include one-time or first-time requests.

C. Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. Consideration $4,000

Requested $4,000

2001 funding $ 0

The Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. (WRA) is a charitable society located in Burnaby. Its mandate is to rehabilitate and release back to the wild injured, orphaned and pollution damaged wildlife. It raises the public's awareness of wildlife issues through education and operates a telephone line, dispensing ongoing advice about what to do with "found" and injured wildlife on private and public property. The Association's activities include care of 3,166 animals in 2001, of which 887 (28%) came from the City of Vancouver via members of the public, the BCSPCA and WRA volunteers. The staff are assisted by a core group of about 60 volunteers, many of whom live in Vancouver. In addition, WRA makes presentations to Vancouver schools and community groups. The Association received grants from the City of Vancouver in the amount of $2,500 in 1992, $2,575 in 1993 and $3,000 in 1994.

The grant request of $4,000 (Appendix C on file in the City Clerk's Office) is for general support to offset increasing operating expenditures and to more adequately respond to local wildlife and community needs.

In 2001, the Wildlife Rescue Association received a $5,000 grant from the City of Burnaby and a $2,000 grant from the City of New Westminster. The WRA has achieved year-end surplus in both 2000 and 2001 of $56,500 and $153,081 respectively.

In 2001, an endowment fund of $144,000 was set up to fund ongoing support and for new and innovative programs. At the end of 2001 the WRA's Operating fund had a balance of $60,838 and their Capital fund had a balance of $9,190. In addition, a six month emergency fund is being built up and at the end of 2001 had a balance of $123,265. The total balance for all funds at the end of 2001 was $337,293.

The 2002 Budget received from WRA projects a deficit of $19,665 on a total budget of $373,237. To date, many of the income categories are below budget, particularly in Corporate Donations where only $2,000 of projected $25,000 has been realized as of June 30, 2002. At the end of June, the operating deficit was $26,946.

The General Manager Corporate Services submits the Wildlife Rescue Association's grant request for Council's CONSIDERATION.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The source of funds for the grants recommended is the 2002 'Other' Grants.

CONCLUSION

The Director of Finance is recommending Council approval of an annual recurring grant of $49,441 for Vancouver City Planning Commission. There are also two grant requests submitted for Council's consideration of $7,500 under the 'Other' - Miscellaneous grant category.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver