ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: January 19, 1998

Author/Local: A. Niwinski 6007

CC File No. 2051

TO:	Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM:	Director Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT:	1998 Cultural Grants Budget Ceiling

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RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council approve a 1998 Cultural grants budget of $$2,988,600, as outlined in summary Table II.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

Council established the annual civic grants programs in March 1978. Budget ceilings for the Cultural Grants program are approved annually.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to establish a budget ceiling for the 1998 Cultural Grants program, which includes Operating, Project and Incentive grants, as well as Grants Equal to Rent.

BACKGROUND

The City’s four categories of Cultural Grants play an important role in helping to sustain and develop a creative and accessible arts sector in our community. Operating, Project and Grants Equal to Rent categories contribute to the creation, production, presentation and distribution of artists’ work. Incentive grants assist non-profit arts groups in undertaking the organizational development and audience outreach that is key to their survival, and support valuable cross-cultural activities.

For 1998, 131 applications totalling $1,713,740 have been received in the Project and Operating categories. Grants Equal to Theatre Rent and Incentive grants are reviewed later in the year. Table I, following, shows how these requests compare with those in the past three years.

TABLE I

Operating and Project Grant Applications

1995 1996 1997 1998

Applications:

Orgs. funded previous year 106 109 105 98

Return orgs. not funded prev. 10 15 8 15

New Applicants 34 19 22 18

Total Applications 150 143 135 131

Orgs. that haven’t returned:

Orgs. funded in previous year 8 10 14 7

Orgs. not funded in prev. year 12 16 15 15

Total non-returns 20 26 30 22

DISCUSSION

1998 Budget Ceiling

For 1997, Council approved a Cultural Grants budget totalling $2,958,980 in all four categories following the transfer of Science World ($80,000) to the Other Grants category. Given that the Director of Finance advises that the 1998 budget figures are to include a 1% adjustment for inflation, staff are submitting a 1998 Cultural Grants budget ceiling of $2,988,600. Within this budget ceiling, funds are allocated among the four Cultural Grant categories based on priorities and anticipated needs. Their distribution is summarized in Table II, following.

TABLE II

1998 Cultural Grants Budget

Recommended Recommended

1997 Budget Increase 1998 Budget

Operating $1,277,360 $ 9,255 $1,286,615

Project 65,000 5,000 70,000

Incentive 80,000 0 80,000

Grants = Rent 1,536,620 15,365 1,551,985

TOTAL $2,958,980 $29,620 $2,988,600

Operating Grants

The City’s Operating grants contribute to the financial stability that arts organizations need over the long term to develop and maintain quality programming. To be considered in this category, applicants must have received Project grants for a minimum of two consecutive years, and have an ongoing presence in the community.

For 1998, the City has received 86 Operating grant requests totalling $1,496,500. These include nine former Project grant applicants that have asked for, but may not qualify for, funding in the Operating category. Staff recommend a budget of $1,286,615, representing an increase of less than 1%.

In accordance with the process approved by Council on December 14, 1989, this budget ceiling report is accompanied by a report on applicants recommended for advance instalments on their 1998 Operating grants. Due to the budget review and consequent delay in finalizing the 1997 Cultural Grants budget ceiling, advance instalments could not be not provided last year, causing cash-flow difficulties for some applicants. This year, 45 organizations are recommended for instalments totalling $407,960, an amount included in the Operating grants budget proposed in this report.

Project Grants

In addition to funding one-time initiatives, Project grants are designed to assist new applicants and smaller organizations that work on a project by project basis. The grants are available for a range of artistic activities reflecting diverse cultural traditions and aesthetic approaches, and taking place in Vancouver.

This year, 45 Project grant requests totalling $217,240 have been received. Staff recommend a Project grants budget of $70,000, representing a $5,000 ( 7.7%) increase over last year. The recommendation for a higher proportional increase in Projects than in Operating reflects the fact that increasingly applicants are working on a project by project basis ( including a number who have applied in the Operating category, but may be recommended for transfer to Projects).

Grants Equal to Theatre Rent

Grants Equal to Rent are provided to established arts organizations that regularly use one of the three Civic Theatres. Council approved the current timetable and process for these grants on July 27, 1995, providing for seasonally based grants considered in the Summer of each year. The budget ceiling for Grants Equal to Rent continues to be set at the same time as the rest of the Cultural Grants budget.

For 1998, staff propose a Grants Equal to Rent budget of $1,551,985 representing a 1% inflationary increase on last year’s $1,536,620 budget. As described in the Director of Finance’s cover report on funding ceilings for civic grants, this amount includes $100,000 to provide continued support for the Vancouver Symphony Society’s rental of office space in the Orpheum Theatre.

Incentive Grants

For 1998, staff are recommending a budget of $80,000 in the Incentive Grants category, the same level as last year, with $30,000 designated for Organizational Development grants, and $50,000 for Cross-Cultural Initiatives grants.

Organizational Development:

Organizational change and renewal have become increasingly important in the cultural sector

in the context of shifting demographics, greater competition for audiences, budget cutbacks and policy changes by funding agencies. The Organizational Development component of the Incentives category encourages and assists arts organizations to upgrade staff skills, obtain expertise needed to address specific operational problems, and undertake long-range planning and audience development initiatives.

Of the $30,000 in Organizational Development, staff recommend that $15,000 be designated as the City’s contribution to the cultural component of the Partners in Organizational Development (POD) program, and the rest for arts administration training, and audience development collaborations. Established in 1989, the POD program helps non-profit groups undertake strategic planning, board development, and other similar activities. Last year POD was funded by the B.C. Arts Council and Department of Canadian Heritage, as well as by the original funding partners, the Vancouver Foundation and City of Vancouver, for a total of $90,000. The program was also expanded to include a needs assessment option.

Cross-Cultural Initiatives:

This program was set up in 1990 to encourage arts initiatives that help increase understanding and co-operation between diverse cultural groups. In 1993 the Vancouver Arts Initiative identified the Cross-Cultural program as a useful means of responding to the diversity in our community. That same year an evaluation of the program in conjunction with community representatives resulted in clearer guidelines and improved communication about the program.

For 1998 staff recommend that Council approve a budget of $50,000, the same level as last year. As indicated in the November 20, 1997 Cross-Cultural grant allocation report, staff are proposing to review the program’s objectives, criteria and delivery in consultation with community representatives, and will report any recommended changes to Council later this year.

CONCLUSION

The City’s Cultural Grants play a valuable and necessary role in ensuring the continued vitality and accessibility of Vancouver’s arts community, providing crucial assistance to non-profit arts groups that make a unique contribution to the city’s cultural life. In recent years the City has also been able to forge partnerships with other funders on a matching fund basis. Together with United Way and the Vancouver Foundation, the City was one of the initiators of the POD program, which has since secured support from the Federal and Provincial governments. In the case of the Artists and Communities program, the City helped ensure that Vancouver (and later B.C.) was one of the three places chosen for this pilot program, initiated last year by the Canada Council.

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(c) 1997 City of Vancouver