Yellowknife (Nov 22/06) - The City of Yellowknife is looking at ways to change how non-profit groups can receive core funding.

This funding is a permanent, yearly injection to a handful of Yellowknife groups that have been deemed necessary to the betterment of the city as a whole.

The groups, which includes Caribou Carnival, Festival of the Midnight Sun, Folk on the Rocks, Sidedoor Ministries and 10 other non-profit groups, will have to follow some new guidelines if council votes to accept recommendations made at the committee meeting on Monday.

In 2000, 10 groups were added to a specific core funding group. In 2004, three more organizations were added to get the fixed yearly funds. However, under what the city calls special circumstances, these groups can ask for a one-time increase in funding for a specific project before returning to normal funding the following year.

One request council looked at during Monday's committee meeting was a change of the committee name to Grant Review Committee, which Grant White, director of Community Services for the city, said would allow this committee to review the special grant and core funding applications each year.

Another change being proposed is each organization receiving funding will have to provide the city with a three- year operation plan.

"Under the new rules the groups would have to meet criteria in their three-year plan," White explained Monday at the meeting.

He said that this was to guarantee the groups actually needed the funding from the city.

Councillor Kevin Kennedy, who said he has been involved with non-profit groups in the past, wanted to know if the city would help the groups with the three-year plan.

"Being involved with these types of groups in the past, I know many are made up with volunteers and would have difficulty putting together the plan," he said. "Will the city be able to help them?"

White said administration would walk each group through the process and lend support if needed.

The way the city has passed out core grants in the past has come under fire numerous times.

In April, former councillor Doug Witty questioned the amount core funding had grown in six years.

In 2000, core funded projects were $180,000 of the budget for that year. This year, $300,000 was given to 13 core groups.

Along with Witty, former councillor Alan Woytuik also questioned the funding.