SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 3
CS&B COMMITTEE AGENDA
MARCH 13, 1997
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: February 20, 1997
CC File No.: 2001-1
TO: Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM: Director of Finance, Director of Community Services -
Social Planning, and Director of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT: 1997 Funding Ceilings for Civic Grants
INFORMATION
The General Managers of Community Services and Corporate Services
submit this report for INFORMATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
City Council, on March 7, 1978, adopted a policy whereby the annual
civic grant program is separated into three categories of 'Community
Services', 'Cultural', and 'Others'; with a funding ceiling for each
category established annually by Council upon the recommendation of the
Director of Finance and the Director of Social Planning.
City Council, on October 23, 1990, approved the Civic Childcare Strategy
Report from the Director of Social Planning and established the
Childcare Grant as a fourth category.
City Council, on August 15, 1991, approved the discontinuation of the
Strategic Cities Program and established the Sister City Society Grants
to be administrated by the Director of Finance under the 'Other' Grants
category.
City Council, on December 14, 1995, approved the Barriers-to-Bridges
Neighbourhood Development Grant Program to be administered by the
Director of Community Services - Social Planning.
City Council, on December 2, 1996, approved a grant of $52,000 to the
YWCA Housing Registry for the extension of the program to April 1,
1997,; with funds provided from the 1997 'Other' Grants budget.
City Council, on February 20, 1997, approved a reduction of $180,000 in
the Civic Grant Program for the support of large cultural organisations
and major exhibiting organisations.
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PURPOSE
This report provides an overview of the recommendations contained in the
accompanying reports dealing with funding limits for the various grant
categories.
BACKGROUND
Each year, the Director of Community Services - Social Planning and the
Director of Cultural Affairs submit reports to Council dealing with the
funding ceilings of the 'Community Services', 'Childcare' and 'Cultural'
grant categories. A separate report from the Director of Finance deals
with the funding ceiling of the 'Other' Grants.
These reports will seek approval for the maximum funding to be provided
in the current financial year for the Civic Grant Programs. Those
reports do not deal with the approval of grants to individual
organisations.
DISCUSSION
The following table presents a summary of the 1997 funding ceilings of
the Civic Grant Programs as recommended by the Director of Finance, the
Director of Community Services - Social Planning and the Director of
Cultural Affairs. They include a 1% inflationary increase over the 1996
funding ceilings, except in the 'Other' Grants; and the further
adjustments resulted from the Council decision of February 20, 1997. In
addition, the $80,000 funding which was provided to Science World has
been transferred from the Cultural category to the Major Facilities
category, as this funding is more closely related to that provided to
the organizations in the Major Facilities category.
a) 1997 Budget Reductions
On February 20, 1997, Council approved a proposal from the General
Manager of Community Services to reduce the grants to the major cultural
and exhibiting organisations by $180,000. Staff are recommending that
the allocation of the $180,000 reduction be made based on the value of
the benefits each organisation received from the City in 1996 (Details
in Appendix A).
In the case of the Vancouver Art Gallery Association, it includes the
cost of the external security services provided by the Building
Management Division; and for the Vanier Park Museum Complex, the
building maintenance costs incurred are being distributed to the three
organisations based on the amount of the grants they received from the
City. The $100,000 grant to Vancouver Symphony Society to cover their
rental of the office space at the Orpheum Theatre has also been included
in the calculation.
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The financial impact is a $130,000 reduction to the major exhibiting
organisations and a $50,000 to the major cultural organisations.
b) Grant Budget Summary
1996 Ceilings 1997 Recommended
Community Services $2,826,000 $2,854,000
Cultural 3,059,690 2,958,980
Childcare 659,300 665,895
Others 704,500 530,000
Major Facilities 3,250,500 3,200,500
Details of the proposed funding ceilings are included in the companion
reports. The 1997 'Cultural' Grant ceiling also includes $100,000 to
provide for continued support to the Vancouver Symphony Society s rental
of the office space in the Orpheum theatre, which was approved as part
of the 'rescue' package approved in 1988. The approval of this grant
will be dealt with later as part of the 'Other' grant report.
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