Georgina's community grant fund gets $14K bump after topping out budget

For the first time in the program’s 8-year history, there was nothing left in the budget

Yorkregion.com
July 10, 2018
Heidi Riedner

Council approved a one-time $14,200 top-up to the town’s community grant program after it topped out its $45,000 budget with six months still left to go.

For the first time in the program’s eight-year history, there was nothing left in the budget, according to a report tabled June 20 by the economic development committee (EDC), which administers the fund.

The economic development and community betterment grant program provides financial and in-kind support to community organizations, business associations and non-profit groups that promote economic growth and contribute to community building events and programs taking place in Georgina.

Between 2014 and 2016, roughly $60,000 has been allocated each year for the program in the town's budget.

It was reduced, however, to $45,000 in 2017 to better reflect annual expenditures between $34,000 and $38,000, economic development manager Karyn Stone explained.

This is the first year there has ever been a shortfall wherein the committee was unable to consider grant applications throughout the entire year, Stone added.

As of last month, 15 applications have been processed, eating through the program's $45,000 budget.

The additional $14,200 -- which is the difference between the 2018 budget amount and the amounts allocated to the program in 2016 and 2017 -- will bring the program's annual budget for 2018 to $59,200.

To prevent similar shortfalls in the future, a number of potential options were tabled for consideration after the municipal election in October and the appointment of a new economic development committee.

They include a potential maximum number of times that a program or event may be funded, imposing a maximum funding amount or restricting applications to two intake periods rather than on a first-come, first-served basis.

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In the past, the committee held a spring and fall intake to ensure all applications were given equal consideration.

For a variety of reasons, however, it was difficult for applicants to adhere to these intake periods, Stone said.

The committee also considered allocating 50 per cent of the program's funding in the first six months of the year and the balance in the last half of the year.

"Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty of when applicants would apply for funding, this method of allocating the available funds was not appropriate," she added.