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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
City council is awarding yearly core funding totalling $314,000 to 20 community groups this year, $40,000 less than it had in its budget.

Core funding is given annually to help support community groups and their activities in the city. It has grown from $97,500 in 2000 to a budget of $352,000 this year.

Coun. Bob Brooks, chair of the grant committee chair, presented the completed core funding plans to council on Monday.

"There was no group that went down in funding, but a few that asked did have a slight increase," he said.

Council elected to put the unused $40,000 into its $110,000 special grant fund, which serves a similar purpose but is not available to core funding recipients and groups must apply for it to receive it.

The grant review committee was able achieve a budget that was less than projected, in part because applicant SideDoor Youth Ministries was eligible for other funding sources to meet its annual needs. SideDoor received $45,000 in core funding last year but has entered into a different contractual arrangement for 2012, which the city refers to as a service agreement.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said in a service agreement, the city participates in operating costs and some capital investment for organizations using city buildings, SideDoor was eligible because it uses a city building.

Specific case scenarios for other groups using core funding were also noted in a recommendation to council from the previous week, including the Snowking Festival, which requested it not receive funding assistance for the second year in a row.

"Snowking was a perfect example of what we would like to see," Brooks said, adding that initial special grant and core money the festival was able to attain in the past proved to help the organizers become profitable and self-sustainable.

"Not all of the groups are going to be able to do what Snowking did, but what we see is that the city helped get them on their feet and that in turn, made funding available for someone else."

The Caribou Carnival, which collapsed several times over the past decade did not receive funding as it had two years ago, largely due to lacking an actual organization. Brooks said, however, that when special grants are decided over the next month, Caribou Carnival will be considered if organizers are ready to meet the funding criteria.

Adrian Bell is among the citizens involved in re-establishing and re-branding the festival, and he said he is interested in applying for special grant funding in order to at least meet the needs for next year.

"We're in the process of creating a new society and it hasn't been re-named just yet," he said.

"We will be forming a board and looking for funding for a staff person. He added that a core group has been formed to take the festival in a new direction in the coming days.

"We would like to have some support from the business community, but we are hoping to get city support and build over three year phases. Hopefully year one will be the only year we have to go to the city."

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