Seniors' society, NACC grapple with proposed city funding cuts
Municipal committee proposes capping core funding at $50,000 per group
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, October 23, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Representatives from the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) and the Yellowknife Seniors' Society are asking the city to reconsider a proposed change of funding they say would impede their respective operations.
Maureen Crotty-Williams, vice-president of the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC), said if council approves a recommendation made by the Grants Review Committee to cap multi-year grants for established organizations – like NACC and the YK seniors society – the cultural centre would have to offer less programming, reduce hours works and raise ticket prices. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo |
Both groups showed up to the city's municipal services committee meeting Monday, asking the city to reconsider a plan to lower the cap on funding to community groups.
Currently, the city caps multi-year grants at $80,000. The list of multi-year recipients - the groups who get annual grants from the city - names 21 organizations but the only two receiving more than the Grants Review Committee's proposed $50,000 cap is NACC and the seniors' society, who currently receive $65,000 and $55,000 per year respectively.
Maureen Crotty-Willams, vice-president for NACC, said she's lived in the city since 1985 and the vibrant arts community is what's kept her here.
"I would probably have a hard time staying here without the wonderful artistic life that I actually do get to benefit from here, and NACC is a part of that."
She said she thinks folks would start to lose interest in the city if it weren't for the arts.
"There are people who are passionate about it, and would find Yellowknife a lot less palatable without it," she said.
Marie Coderre, NACC's executive director, said the group was already docked $15,000 last year, going from $80,000 to $65,000. Although Coderre begged council to reconsider in January she said the money was never reinstated, and now they could face another $15,000 cut.
During the MSC meeting, Crotty-Williams said this will mean NACC will have to cut programming, reduce employee hours and raise ticket prices.
"The proposed cuts to it will change NACC," she said. "We will be able to do less, we will have to raise ticket prices, it will have a profound effect on us."
Williams' brother-in-law Merlyn Williams, president of the Yellowknife Seniors' Society, was next to deliver his case to council. He said the society is on the hook for all the operation and maintenance of the Baker Centre - in the Avens Community For Seniors - and losing $5,000 in grant money will be difficult to manage.
"That is going to hurt us a great deal," he said. "We are not a weekend event, we're not a winter event, we're not a Snow Castle event, we are a 12-month event."
Williams said inflation increases costs every year and setting a cap would mean the society would begin to fall behind. He explained the society asked the review committee to increase their funding by $5,000 in June to account for rising inflation, so the proposed cut would be a step in the wrong direction.
Coun. Rebecca Alty - council's representative on the review committee - said they wanted to reduce the cap to $50,000 so that more money will be left in the pot for start-up organizations.
She said when the city first offered special grants - in 2013 - groups that signed up first were given large grants, so in subsequent years funding leftover for new groups was minimal.
She said the committee wanted to level the playing field to enable some of the other groups on the list - which include NWT SPCA, the Canadian Championship Dog Derby Association and the SnowKing festival - to access more grant money. She noted the city can award up to two per cent of their revenue to special grants, and the pot has been around $418,000 for the last couple years.
"It looks like the majority of councillors want to keep the cap at $80,000," she said, adding she expects the matter to be settled on Monday.
Councillors Alty and Bussey indicated they'll be voting to lower the cap, Coun. Niels Konge abstained because he arrived late and the rest of the councillors said they'll vote to maintain the status quo.
