SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 7 CS&B COMMITTEE AGENDA FEBRUARY 1, 1996 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT Date: January 19, 1996 TO: Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets FROM: Director of Finance SUBJECT: 1996 Funding Ceiling - 'Other' Grants RECOMMENDATION THAT the 1996 funding ceiling for 'Other' Grants be set as follows: Annual Recurring and Miscellaneous $ 604,800 Sister City Societies 15,000 Collingwood Village 191,700 Vancouver Art Stabilization Program 100,000 Vancouver Economic Commission 200,000 Barrier-to-Bridges Grants 15,000 $1,126,500 GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS The General Manager of Corporate Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing. COUNCIL POLICY Council policy on civic grants is presented in the companion report from the General Managers of Community Services and Corporate Services. PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to submit for consideration the 1996 funding ceiling of the 'Other' Grants. BACKGROUND City Council, on June 22, 1989, approved the recommendation of the Director of Finance to restructure the 'Other' Grants funding into three separate categories: Major Facilities, Annual Recurring and Miscellaneous. Since 1989 five new grant programs have been included in 'Other' Grants and they are as follows: Sister Cities, Collingwood Village, Vancouver Art Stabilization, Vancouver Economic Commission and Barrier-to-Bridges. DISCUSSION 1. Major Facilities The Major Facilities category provides funding to the four organizations which operate the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Museum Complex at Vanier Park. The grants to these organizations are based on specific and on-going arrangements as stipulated in the operating agreements with the City. An amount of $3,250,500 has been provided in the 1996 Preliminary Operating Budget to fund these grants. Council should note that the Operation Review of the Vancouver Museum has been completed and the consultant is finalizing the report for presentation to Council. The budget established at this time does not include any provision to reflect the financial implications of the recommendations from the consultant. 2. 'Other' Grants a) Annual Recurring and Miscellaneous In establishing the funding ceiling for the Annual Recurring and Miscellaneous category, the Director of Finance has given consideration to the funding levels provided to the various organizations in 1995, as well as the anticipated requests in 1996. It is estimated that an amount of $604,800 will be sufficient to fund the 1996 grant requests. This compares to actual expenditure in 1995 of $658,300. b) Collingwood Village City Council, on December 15, 1994 approved the proposed 1995 operating budget of the Collingwood Neighbourhood House Society to operate the facilities at the Collingwood Village. $159,700 was allowed to provide a one-time grant of $86,400 for the purchase of gymnasium equipment and $73,300 to cover the 1995 portion of operating costs of the gymnasium. The estimated annualized operating cost is $191,700. Staff will report back on specific needs at a later point. c) Vancouver Art Stabilization Program In November 1993, Council approved, in principle, to provide an amount of $500,000 to the Vancouver Art Stabilization Program to be disbursed as grants at $100,000 a year over five years. The third installment of the grant has been included in the ceiling. d) Vancouver Economic Commission City Council on September 14,1995 approved the final report from the Economic Development Task force, and approved in principle an annual grant of $200,000 to fund the Commission. The grant is to cover the May 1 to April 30 fiscal year, to be reviewed and approved annually upon receiving an application and annual report of the activities of the Commission. e) Barrier-to-Bridges Grants City Council on December 15, 1995 approved a 1996 allocation of $15,000 to the Barriers-to-Bridges Grants program. Staff will report back on the allocation of the grants at a later date. * * * * *