SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 5
CS&B COMMITTEE AGENDA
FEBRUARY 1, 1996
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: January 16, 1996
TO: Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM: Director of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT: 1996 Advance Cultural Grant Instalments
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve a change in the basis for calculating
advance grant instalments from 50% of applicants' previous
year's grant to 40%.
B. THAT Council approve advance grant instalments totalling
$495,600 to the 61 organizations listed in Appendix A;
source of funds to be the 1996 Cultural Grants Budget.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services submits A and B for
CONSIDERATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
On December 14, 1989, City Council approved in principle the provision
of advance grant instalments to cultural grant applicants that meet
three basic criteria:
1. The applicant has received a civic cultural operating
grant for at least three consecutive years.
2. The applicant's civic grant in the previous year was at
least $5,000.
3. An initial review of an organization's current
application indicates that no critical concerns about
the applicant's finances, organizational stability or
overall performance have arisen in the past year.
Council also resolved that advance cultural grant instalments should
be 50% of each eligible applicant's previous operating grant, and that
the list of organizations eligible for an advance should be presented
for Council's approval at the same time as the annual Cultural Grants
grant budget report.
Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.
PURPOSE
This report recommends that, as of this year, advance grant
instalments be based on 40% rather than 50% of each applicant's
operating grant in the previous year. Based on the change to 40%, it
also presents recommendations for 1996 grant instalments totalling
$495,600 to 61 eligible organizations.
BACKGROUND
Until 1990, only a few large cultural organizations, mostly in the
'Other' grants category, were given advances on their operating
grants. Advance grant instalments for the Cultural Grants budget were
introduced in 1990 to alleviate the cash flow problems that many arts
organizations experience at the beginning of the calendar year, when
they are in mid-season, but government grants budgets have not yet
been approved.
Cultural grant instalment recommendations are usually considered by
Council in February, at the same time as the annual Grants Budget
Ceiling report. They are based on a preliminary review of grant
applications, which are received at the end of November, as well as
the ongoing contact OCA staff have with arts organizations.
Following Council's decisions, all recipients are notified, in
writing, that approval of an advance instalment does not represent a
commitment for additional funds in a given year, and that their
application will be subject to further staff evaluation in the context
of the Cultural Grants budget approved by Council for a given year.
DISCUSSION
Noting Council's previous concerns about committing a significant
proportion of the Cultural Grant budget through advance instalments,
staff are recommending that the instalments be reduced from 50% to 40%
of eligible applicants' previous grants, as of this year. While the
impact of this change on eligible arts organizations would be limited,
it would reduce the amount committed in advance from $619,500 to
$495,600, or from 45% to 36% of last year's Operating and Project
grants budget level.
As one step toward correcting historical inconsistencies in processing
grants, this year's recommendation for an advance instalment to the
Children's Festival (CIAYA) was not, as in the past, included in the
Finance Department's report on advance instalments for the 'Other'
grants category, but instead is being presented in this report on
advances to Cultural Grant recipients. However, the question of the
appropriate category for Science World has been postponed pending the
resolution of issues related to other large exhibiting institutions,
so the recommendation for an advance to Science World is still
included in this report.
For 1996, 143 Operating and Project grant requests in the amount of
$1,950,405 have been received. Following a review of their
submissions in the context of the guidelines, 61 of the 91 Operating
Grants applicants are being recommended for advance instalments
totalling $495,600, as listed in Appendix A.
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