Grant changes recommended by qathet Regional District committee

qathet Regional District’s (qRD) finance committee will be recommending that the regional board streamline its grants-in-aid policy.

At the February 6 finance committee meeting, directors considered a three-part motion, which, if enacted, would result in several organizations being allocated multi-year funding arrangements and there being one annual grant-in-aid intake per year.

The first motion entailed when applications are presented to the board for consideration, staff will provide the board with a summary of grants awarded over the most recently completed 10-year period. The board may use this information to regionally balance benefits over time among the collection of projects supported.

Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick asked if this was information that directors currently were not receiving.

Manager of financial services Linda Greenan said the proposed policy change would provide information that directors don’t currently receive when they look at grant applications.

The finance committee unanimously approved sending the matter to the regional board for approval.

The second motion related to the committee recommending that the board direct staff to consider bringing forward for consideration multi-year funding agreements for the following organizations: Powell River Therapeutic Riding Association; Powell River Festival of the Performing Arts; Savary Island Land Trust Society; Lasqueti Island Nature Conservancy; qathet Film Society; Pacific Region International Summer Music Association (PRISMA); and Texada Arts, Culture and Tourism.

Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said annual funding agreements are great for the nonprofits that receive them, however, it does limit the board’s future decision-making process.

“It limits the flexibility of the organization because we might start getting requests from organizations that need some seed funding, and those requests might be quite large,” said Gisborne. “I’m actually not a fan of multi-year funding agreements.”

Electoral Area E director and finance committee chair Andrew Fall said annual funding agreements give certainty to the groups so they can carry out their planning, and it gives certainty to the qRD board.

“It makes things more efficient, so less time is spent reviewing things,” said Fall.

The committee carried the motion, with Gisborne opposed.

The third motion was that the committee recommends to the board that the board direct staff to amend the grant-in-aid policy to provide for a single grant intake per year of March 31.

Electoral Area C director and board chair Clay Brander said he was in favour of the single intake.

“If there are two intakes, we never know how many people are going to apply for the second one,” said Brander. “Having a single intake makes sense because we’ll have a clear view of who is asking for money and it also saves time for staff.”

McCormick said she did not support the motion. She said community groups are not all organized at the start of the year to know what they need.

“I support continuing the current system,” said McCormick. “We have two intakes, March and the end of August. That is far preferable than cutting everybody off at the end of March and not allowing for any special or unusual circumstances that may arise.”

Greenan said the regional district has $358,000 between the social planning grants and the grants-in-aid pool. She said if the board goes to a single intake, her recommendation is that it take effect in 2025.

City of Powell River alternate director Trina Isakson amended the motion for the single intake to begin in 2025. The amendment carried unanimously.

McCormick brought forward amendments to have the deadline moved to June 30, which failed, and May 31, which also failed.

The motion that the committee recommend to the board that staff be directed to amend policy for a single grant-in-aid intake for March 31 to begin in 2025 carried, with directors McCormick, Gisborne and Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox opposed.

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