TOWNSHIP OF ESQUIMALT STAFF REPORT
MEETING DATE: April 15, 2024 Report No. FIN-24-007
TO: Committee of the Whole
FROM: Ian Irvine, Director of Financial Services
SUBJECT: Local Grants
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That the Committee of the Whole recommends to Council that it consider potential amendments to the Township’s local grants program.
Body
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Based on a recommendation by the Local Grant Committee, approved by Council, that the Committee of the Whole discuss several fundamental questions about the future of the Township’s local grant program.
BACKGROUND:
During its recent meeting, the Local Grant Committee raised several issues regarding the Township’s current local grant program. It recommended that the Committee of the Whole engage in a fulsome discussion regarding the vision and intended objectives for any Township grant program. It also asked staff to evaluate other municipal grant programs within the region and report on other models and approaches in place.
Based on recent comments and feedback from the Local Grant Committee, challenges remain around the evaluation of applications and the inability to provide full financial support to all deserving organizations. Over the years, new Councils and changing Local Grant Committee compositions have brought differing viewpoints regarding the purpose, objective, and applicability of Township local grants, however frustration around these challenges has remained constant.
The recent Local Grant Committee recommendation is intended to initiate discussion about the Township’s existing local grant program and about any desired changes. This includes fundamental questions about whether they wish to have a local grant program and if so, how should it look and function to ensure it provides Council’s desired benefits to the community.
In recent years, the Local Grants Policy and process have often been the subject of Council discussions and staff reports. Since 2016, the Township’s Local Grant Policy has been reviewed and amended numerous times prior to this staff report. The timing and nature of these changes have been outlined in the following summary.
Chronology:
• February 2016 (Council) - policy amendments: (i) establish separate policy related to community events which discussed reporting requirements and in-kind support; (ii) amend annual funding; and (iii) change insurance procedures.
• October 2016 (Council) - policy amendments: (i) create “established events” distinction to rescind separate Council Policy related to community events; (ii) clarity around multiple applications; (iii) funding level increases based on tax increase; and (iv) shift in process timing.
• April 2019 (Special COTW) - proposed changes: (i) limit in kind contributions to community events; (ii) eliminate need for community events representatives to make formal presentations to Committee.
• December 2019 (COTW) - proposed changes: (i) approving multi-year grants; (ii) in kind support limits; (iii) reporting requirements to include community events.
• December 2020 (Council) (i) creation of a standardized, fillable application form and evaluation criteria for Committee members; (ii) changes to the annual funding level; (iii) removal of in-kind support limits; and (iv) removal of “established events” distinction.
• April 2021 (COTW) - proposed changes: (i) revisions to evaluation criteria; (ii) amendments to funding allocation; (iii) elimination of 10% holdback; and (iv) accountability for in kind utilization.
• October 2021 (COTW) - proposed changes: (i) approach to address in kind overutilization; (ii) revise evaluation criteria and create scoring matrix; (iii) consider multi-year funding for community events.
• November 2021 (Council) - policy amendments: (i) change funding allocation; (ii) not allow multi-year funding requests; (iii) process for determining in kind allocations; (iv) implementation of scoring matrix and process; (v) increased reporting for community events.
• August 2023 (Council) - policy amendments: (i) maintain annual funding level; (ii) allow multi-year funding approvals; (iii) remove 10% holdback; (iv) process for addressing subsequent requests.
Advisory Body Recommendations:
• During its meeting on January 17, 2024, the Local Grant Committee recommended that the local grant policy and process review be referred to Committee of the Whole for focused discussion in a number of areas. Additionally, the Committee requested information from staff regarding local grant programs that may exist in other core area municipalities. These recommendations were approved by Council at its January 29, 2024, meeting.
• The Committee drafted the following questions to guide the Committee of the Whole discussion:
o What is Council's definition of a local grant?
o Does Council wish to continue issuing local grants? If so, for whom are grants to be allocated to?
o How are grants to be allocated?
o For how many years are grants to be allocated?
o Is there a firm funding cap on the overall amount of grants to be allocated?
o Is eventual financial self-sustenance expected of applicants? If so, is there a desire to reduce grant allotments by a certain percentage each year over 4 years?
o Are grant applications to be allowed outside the local grant process? If so, how are these requests to be managed?
o How are requests relating to economic opportunities to be handled?
Economic Development
As part of its recent recommendations, the Local Grant Committee raised questions regarding the link between local grants and economic development. This is in response to challenges faced by the Committee to assess the assertions made by grant applicants about potential economic benefits to the community. To assist and guide the Committee and the discussion, the current Council Policy - Local Grants and the current grant application document were reviewed by the Township’s Economic Development Manager. Their comments are attached to this report for the Committee’s reference and consideration.
ANALYSIS:
Township local grants are distributed in February each year and historically, the requested amounts have exceeded the amount available for distribution. This has created challenging decisions by the Local Grant Committee and has often resulted in the reduction or denial of support to Esquimalt based organizations and those serving Township residents. The current amount budgeted in the local grants account is $160,000 and each year approximately half of this balance has been approved for disbursement to various community event organizers and committees.
One of the Committee’s recommendations was to have staff gather information about other grant programs within the region. Through contact with other municipalities, it has become clear that no consistent method or approach currently exists. Instead, each municipality has identified its own specific needs and has established a level of funding support for associations, not for profit organizations, and community groups to address specific needs and achieve their Council’s desired objectives.
Over the years, numerous attempts have been made to improve the Council Policy and the local grant process with the intention of providing more clarity to applicants and assistance to Committee members during their evaluations and recommendations. There is the hope that, through this discussion, fundamental questions can be answered about local grants within the Township to provide stability and reduce the need for future policy reviews and amendments.
OPTIONS:
There is no statutory requirement for the Township to issue local grants and therefore the Committee could make recommendations to redefine, amend or eliminate the local grant program. If the program is to continue, these recommendations could involve updates to the current Council Policy or any facets of the existing local grant program. As staff involvement in the local grants process is advisory in nature, their focus is limited to guiding the Local Grant Committee and ensuring compliance with the program and policy decisions made by Council.
COUNCIL PRIORITY:
Engaged, Healthy Community
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Unless changes are recommended to the annual funding levels, there are no direct financial implications. However, depending on the nature and volume of any requested program and policy changes, staff may consider engaging a consultant to perform a formal review and assist with policy development.
COMMUNICATIONS/ENGAGEMENT:
Once decisions have been made about the program and the local grant policy, the Township website would be updated to reflect any changes to ensure potential applicants are made aware.
TIMELINES & NEXT STEPS:
Based on the Committee’s direction, an updated Local Grant Policy could be developed for review and approval by Council. Depending on the volume and complexity of the requested changes, a new policy could be developed and available for Council review during the third period of 2024. This would provide sufficient time for Council to complete their review and approval prior to the annual December 31 grant application deadline.
REPORT REVIEWED BY:
1. Sarah Holloway, Deputy Corporate Officer, Reviewed
2. Dan Horan, Chief Administrative Officer, Concurrence
LIST OF ATTACHMENTS:
1. Council Policy - FIN-20 Local Grants
2. Economic Development Assessment