City council finds itself in a familiar situation this week. A deputation from Grace Place last night, had the local organization asking for $50,000.00 in city funding to help support their programs. The organization has made a difference and helped a lot of people. Like many other groups, Grace Place is constantly seeking available funding from provincial and federal accounts to keep them running. Through these processes they’re left waiting for extended periods which makes it difficult for them to operate.
So last night, council was approached for some help. The councilors were all favourable to the request, again, because of the great work that Grace Place does in our community.
So how did it end? Council decided to send the request back to administration. Their findings and a report due in October.
Once again, city administration has to dig deep and find an appropriate recommendation. On one hand, they know this program is valuable to the community and has great value in helping those in need. On the other hand, they also know that the budget this year was tight, that allocated money has been already approved, and that this request for $50,000.00 will have to come from somewhere. They’re in a tough spot. Their job is to run the city as best they can with the funds provided. It’s not easy. A few thousand here, a few thousand there starts to add up quickly so they could very well find themselves in a position to have to say, “we’re sorry, but this money isn’t in the budget and we’ll have to cut something to be able to pay”. Again it won’t make them popular with council and ultimately council will have to support their decision or not.
Don’t get me wrong – maybe there is money there for Grace Place. If there is – great! Pass it along. If there’s not, lets add them to next years budget for on going funding for the great programs they provide.
If administration comes back with the report that says “sorry, we dont advise this funding right now – but we can do it in the next budget” – any bets Council hands over the money anyway? Could we actually do this two weeks in a row? Any bets?
Sure we can…. its an election year….
Just my two cents.
~John
