At September’s City of Powell River finance committee meeting representative of Powell River Council for Arts, Culture and Heritage Ann Nelson asked council to consider the future of the annual Celebration of Cultural Diversity, now in its fifth year.
On October 1, city council passed a recommendation that the arts council use its 2015 budgeted grants-in-aid fund to pay for the cultural diversity event next month.
In years past, the arts council had an informal agreement with the past director of parks, recreation and culture that the city would partner with the organizers of the cultural diversity festival, including Powell River Employment Program Society and arts council, to provide facilities free of charge at Powell River Recreation Complex.
“With the new accounting procedures for in-kind use of city facilities, the arts council was directed to apply for an in-kind grants-in-aid,” said Nelson.
The city annually allocates funding for arts, culture and heritage programs through an agreement with arts council, which is responsible for the approval and distribution of funds through grants for qualifying arts, culture and heritage endeavours.
Because the city is overspent in its grants-in-aid, the cultural-diversity event application for in-kind grants, valued at about $3,000, was not approved. The arts council, however, had extra funds because they did not have to cover the cost of PRISMA this year, said Nelson.
“There are no fingers being pointed or condemnation, but looking at it through this lens, it’s apparent that [the city] should not be going any farther [with funding],” she said.
Nelson added that she spoke to councillors to let them know that they needed to consider the future of the cultural diversity festival.
Council budgets approximately $40,000 annually for cash donations to community non-profit organizations and another $20,000 for in-kind donations for facility or bus usage.
According to staff reports, council is approximately $1,000 over budget for cash donations this year and about $13,000 over for in-kind, as a result of tighter accounting standards brought by Shehzad Somji, chief financial officer for the city, and Ray Boogaards, director of parks, recreation and culture.
“Either the city has to decide that [the festival is] a significant enough event, like Canada Day, where the city is the sponsor, or they want to work in partnership to put it on, or fund the arts council to put it on,”said Nelson. “We are a culturally inclusive community and we need to remind each other of that.”
City council also approved two other grants-in-aid on October 1. Townsite Heritage Society was given $2,000 for ongoing maintenance of the Triangle Gardens. CJMP Community Radio Society was given $500, partial funding for a community project of creating 20 hours of public-service programming.
