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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-07-060 - Implementation of Interim Process for 2008 Annual Operating and Minor Sports Grants ) R Community Services Report To: Date of Meeting: Submitted By: Prepared By: Community Services Committee June 18, 2007 Ward(s) Involved: Date of Report: Report No.: Subject: Ann Pappert, General Manager, Community Services Renate Willms, Supervisor of Administration (x2395); Kathleen Woodcock, Special Projects Officer (x2597) All June 11 , 2007 CSD-07-060 IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERIM PROCESS FOR 2008 ANNUAL OPERATING AND MINOR SPORTS GRANTS RECOMMENDATION: 1. That Council approve the implementation plan of the interim process for 2008 annual operating and minor sports grants, as outlined in Report No. CSD-07-060; and, 2. That Council approve 2008 annual operating grants in the amount of $1,555,612, subject to final 2008 budget approval; and, 3. That Council approve 2008 annual minor sports grants in the amount of $680,180 subject to final 2008 budget approval; and, 4. That Council approve the 2008 general provision grant allocation of $100,000 and, in addition, that any funds remaining in the 2007 general provision grant account be carried forward to the 2008 general provision grant account; and further, 5. That for the 2008 calendar year only, Council waive the following statement which is included in Policy 1-596-Grants-General Provision to allow for those successful 2007 provisional grant recipients who may seek approval to be added to the annual operating grants stream, to remain for a second year in the provisional funding stream: "General provision grants are intended for one time funding only, for a specific event or project. Organizations seeking continual support are encouraged to seek other funding sources and not rely on grant funding from the City. Grant requests for ongoing support will be considered with the annual operating grant process. " BACKGROUND: In June 2006, as per Report No. CSD-06-085, the Community Services Committee approved the terms of reference to develop a Community Investment Strategy (CIS). Staff anticipate that the CIS recommendations will advocate for key changes to the overall grant program in order to align the expenditure of civic resources with community and corporate strategic directions. Report No. CSD-07-060 Page 2 Staff expect to return to Council in June 2007 for approval of the consultant and are vigorously working to bring preliminary strategy recommendations to Council by the end of 2007. On April 23, 2007, staff presented a report to Council (CSD-07-044) requesting direction to proceed with an interim, transitional approach towards implementing the 2008 annual grant application process. Council approved, in principle, the implementation of Option #2 (noted below) and directed staff to detail the implementation requirements of this option and return to Council within six weeks with information, policies, pre-commitments and definitions requiring approval of Council. "That Council approve in principle the following principles of Option #2 as outlined in CSD- 07-044 and inclusive of the following: A. For the calendar year of 2008 and for one (1) year only, guarantee and pre-commit grant funds for our successful 2007 Annual Operating and Minor Sports recipients for their 2008 operating year. The allocation of these funds would equal the recipients awarded 2007 grant plus an increase of 20/0 for 2008. B. Pause the Annual Operating and Minor Sports Groups grant application process for 2008 and respond to brand new grant requests through the existing General Provisional grant process. Direct all organizations who may request to move from General Provision into the 2008 Annual Grant Program to stay in the General Provision stream for one more year. C. Establish criteria to respond to "emergency" requests; the definition and criteria for the 'emergency' to be approved by Council, in advance; and pause the current appeal process. D. Require all successful 2007 annual operating and minor sports groups to submit a detailed cover letter with financial statements and audits, the letter to be within the format of the Corporation, advising of any 'significant' change they anticipate in 2008; the definition and criteria for 'significant' to be approved by Council, in advance. E. Organizations with Council pre-approved special or unique multi year agreements that occur in the 2008 calendar year will be treated outside of this motion. AND That Council direct staff to detail the implementation requirements of Option #2 and return to Council within six weeks with information, policies, pre-commitments and definitions requiring approval of Council." REPORT: The purpose of this report is to provide Council with the transitional implementation approach of Option #2, approved in principle, for the 2008 annual operating and minor sports grant processes, as outlined below. ImDlementation Plan A. Pre-commitment of 2008 Funds to 2007 Annual Operating and Minor Sports Recipients Process: Report No. CSD-07-060 Page 3 · Successful 2007 annual operating and minor sports groups are to submit a detailed cover letter by September 21, 2007 with financial statements and audits (if grant is $50,000 or greater), the letter to be within the format of the Corporation, advising of any 'significant' change they anticipate in 2008; the definition and criteria for the 'significant' to be as previously approved by Council. Appendix A lists those organizations and groups for which this would be applicable. · Funding will only be provided to groups and organizations who submit the required information and staff are satisfied that the funds will be used according to the direction of Council (as approved in 2007). · Organizations and groups which in the past have been considered by staff "out of scope" of municipal funding, e.g. groups providing services that are education, business or social services related but which were approved by Council for an annual grant in 2007, will be included in the 2008 grant allocation. A review of "out of scope" grants will be conducted by the consultant through the Community Investment Strategy study. B. Pause 2008 Annual Operating and Minor Sports Grant Application Process and requests to move to the Annual Operating Grant stream Process: · 2007 grant recipients will not need to submit an application form but rather a letter of intent in the format as described in this report by September 21 , 2007. · Any new organization or group who wishes to apply for a 2008 annual operating grant will be directed to apply through the general provision grant process for the 2008 funding year only. Through the general provision grant process, applicants must submit a fully completed application form along with all required documents. The application will be submitted for review to the appropriate advisory committee; staff will then submit the grant request, along with a staff report, to Council for consideration at a Community Services Committee meeting, as per the current general provision grant procedures. · Any new organization or group who wishes to apply for a 2008 annual minor sports grant will be required to complete minor sports grant and minor sports affiliation application forms. Staff will review the application and submit the grant request to Council for consideration at a Community Services Committee meeting and any amounts approved will be funded through the general provision grant account (for 2008 only). Policv ChanQe: · Staff recommend that the statement in the general provision grant policy approved by Council in November 2002, noted below, not be applied to new 2008 annual grant applicants who have been directed to apply through the general provision grant process for 2008: "General provision grants are intended for one time funding only, for a specific event or project. Organizations seeking continual support are encouraged to seek other funding sources and not rely on grant funding from the City. Grant requests for ongoing support will be considered with the annual operating grant process." Report No. CSD-07-060 Page 4 C. "Emergency" Requests Process: · To bring the matter to the attention of Council for resolution, the organization or group must submit a fully completed general provision grant application form. · Staff will review the application and submit the grant request, along with a staff report, to Council for consideration at a Community Services Committee meeting. · These requests will receive response in a timely manner. Definition: An emergency is an extraordinary circumstance defined as a major, unplanned change that seriously impacts the facility, operations and/or governance of an organization or group and for which the organization or group has no capacity to circumvent it. Examples: · Financial loss of income resulting in potential bankruptcy or closure · Extraordinary increase of expense · Resignation of the Board or staff team · Strike action · Fire D. Letter of Intent Advising of Significant Changes Submitted by 2007 Grant Recipients The intent of the implementation of Option #2 is to pause the 2008 annual operating and minor sports grant processes rather than to implement 'quick fixes' or put additional burden on the existing clients and to accommodate general budget demands. Any program expansions need to be accommodated within this grant. Further, the information to be provided by the organizations or groups through the letter of intent is intended for review as it relates to satisfying the criteria of the grant that was approved in 2007 grant and the awarding of 2008 funds plus 20/0 only. Process: · Groups and organizations are to outline any significant change planned in 2008, as noted above, in a letter of intent to be submitted to staff by September 21, 2007. Copies of the organization's most recently completed financial statement (audited if grant is $50,000 or greater) as well as a 2008 budget must also be submitted. · Staff will review the information and, if something falls within the criteria approved by Council and if it is deemed reasonable by staff, staff will consult with the group and highlight this information to Council. · New requests to fund emerging ideas or projects will continue to move forward through a public review by Council as per the existing provisional grant program. This program has the criteria that can provide flexibility for both the community and Council. Report No. CSD-07-060 Page 5 · "Emergency" requests will be brought forward to Council through the general provision grant process. Definition: "Significant" is defined as a planned circumstance, within the control of the organization or group, that will affect the facility, operations, program, budget and/or governance of an organization or group in 2008. Examples: · Reduction in programming · Change in governance/board · Change in facility and/or location of programs · Review of financial statements If the City's 2009 Cultural Capitals application is successful, groups identified in that application will be contacted and a separate process will be implemented for distribution of funds per the application. Special or Unique Multi-Year Agreements Staff have compiled and verified groups or organizations with any special or unique multi-year agreements. Annual minor sports groups have no pre-committed funding agreements in place. The list of annual operating grant groups and organizations that have unique, multi-year agreements is contained in Appendix A. Staff recommends that these agreements supersede Option #2 and be processed separately. Requests for Capital Grants Staff have considered capital grants to be out of scope for the annual operating grant process being discussed in this report and they recommend that capital grant requests proceed as usual to Council and not be paused. Council has pre-committed capital grants totalling $30,000 for 2008: KidsAbility Foundation $20,000 The Working Centre $1 O~OOO Total $30,000 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: If approved, the 2008 annual operating grant budget will be $1 ,555,612, representing a 2.40/0 increase over 2007. New annual grant requests and grant requests which fall under the "emergency" criteria as approved by Council will be submitted to Council for approval through the general provision grant process. Report No. CSD-07-060 Page 6 On May 28, 2007 Council gave preliminary direction to staff to increase the 2008 budget for grants by 20/0. The 2.40/0 increase in annual operating grants represents an across the board increase of 20/0, adjusted for a few specific items (such as additional pre-approvals or grants not subject to annual inflation such as the City's contribution to the physician recruitment program). The net impact of the additional 0.40/0 increase in the annual operating grants budget is $4,390. Staff recommends that the 2008 general provision budget be reduced by $4,390 in order to adhere to the terms of Council's budget direction. This is reflected in the comments further below. If approved, the annual minor sports grant budget will be $680,180 representing a 20/0 increase over 2007. Appendix B outlines the list of 2007 minor sports grant recipients and the projected 2008 grant amounts. New annual minor sports grant requests and grant requests which fall under the 'emergency' criteria as approved by Council will be submitted to Council for approval and funded through the general provision grant allocation. The 2007 general provision grant account has $54,307 remaining as of May 31, 2007. There are two scheduled Community Services Committee meetings remaining in 2007 where Council may consider general provision grants. Staff recommends that any unallocated funds in the 2007 general provision grant account be transferred to the 2008 general provision grant account. Each year, Council has approved $100,000 for Provisional Grants. If the additional 0.40/0 ($4,390) increase in the annual operating grants budget is approved as recommended above, it should be taken from the 2008 general provision grant budget of $1 00,000 thus leaving $95,61 0 for distribution. As well, Council should be aware that $38,250 of that amount has been pre- committed as follows, leaving a starting balance of $57,360 for 2008, subject to any year end roll over from unspent 2007 provisional funds. Downtown East Ya Gotta Luv It Project Royal Canadian Legion Taxes Army, Navy, Air Force Club Taxes $19,250 $10,000 (estimate) $ 9~000 (estimate) Total $38,250 COMMUNICATIONS: The implementation option as outlined in this report has been reviewed by staff in the Finance Department. Individual organizations currently in the 2007 annual operating grant and minor sports grant recipients have not been personally notified of this transitional change to the 2008 grant process although many are aware through conversations with staff. As discussed with Council at the April 23rd meeting, staff proposed that the implementation plan contained in this report has also been circulated to members of the following advisory committees for review and comments: · Arts and Culture Advisory Committee · Mayor's Advisory Council for Kitchener Seniors · Kitchener Youth Action Council Report No. CSD-07-060 Page 7 Comments received from the advisory groups were favourable to the implementation plan detailed in this report. Advisory committee members also noted that effective communication and messaging relating to any change is critical during the community investment strategy project. Some respondents recommended that the current demands on not-for-profit organizations to expand some current core services in order to secure funding, be identified and addressed through the process. The implementation plan was shared with presidents of minor sports organizations at a recent forum on Tuesday June 5th. Groups indicated that they support a review of the grants process and the criteria for determining funding particularly because many do not understand the current process. Particular concern was expressed regarding opportunities for new affiliated groups to access the grants process and they were advised that they will most certainly be able to apply through the Provisional Grant process. CONCLUSION: The Community Investment Strategy and the Interim Transition Option #2 work in tandem to provide the community and Council with effective, equitable and sustainable responses to meeting the community's short and long term needs. The Transition Option #2 provides opportunities for new ideas to be vetted through Council as per the Provisional Grant program and employs timely and effective avenues for addressing emergency and emerging demands of the community while ensuring the best use of volunteer, staff and Council focus on informing the long term Community Investment Strategy process. Ann Pappert, General Manager Community Services Department AU.