Richmond City Council approved 73 community service grants valued at $823,300 on Tuesday, ahead of a review of casino revenue expenditures that may result in a boost to the grants program.
Mayor Malcolm Brodie called the grants an important facet of the community.
“Our many community partner organizations provide critical and valuable services to Richmond residents,” said Brodie.
Municipal grant money comes from the city’s gaming revenue – a 10 per cent share of the River Rock Casino Resort’s revenues.
The biggest portion of grants was for social, health and safety grants, which totaled $562,400.
Because council budgeted a specific amount it meant roughly $260,000 of requested money for the social, health and safety grants was not distributed.
Organizations — such as Touchstone family services and Chimo community services — requested about $170,000 less than they did in 2013.
Other grants included in the city's program include those for child care, arts and culture.
Richmond City Council has directed staff to review the possibility of increasing grant amounts for 2016. The review is expected to arrive on council’s table this spring.
But at least two councillors — Chak Au and Carol Day — wanted to ignore the review and give extra money this year.
Their motion to fund St.Alban Anglican Church and its homeless shelter program an extra $10,000 was defeated 7-2 in a vote at a committee meeting last week.
Part of the problem, according to Coun. Bill McNulty, is that the organizations need to be vetted before more money is handed out.
However, city staff did vet the candidate organizations and assessed how much money they would receive based on a list of criteria. The reason why the requests are not fulfilled in full is because staff are working with a fixed amount, determined in the previous year.
A contentious issue is whether the municipal grants will supplant provincial government funding, a concern shared by many on council.
“I need more of an understanding, if we increase grants, what is this saying?” questioned Coun. Linda McPhail to the Richmond News.
The City of Richmond wrote a news release Friday stating: “Local organizations are facing challenges in securing funding from senior governments and others at the levels necessary to meet demand.”
Brodie said the municipal grants are not intended to be primary sources of funding.
“Our grants program is designed to provide assistance to those groups in delivering on their mandates and to bridge gaps in funding,” he said.
Top grant recipients in 2015:
Richmond Addiction Services - $204,368
Chimo Community Services - $48,400
Family Services of Greater Vancouver - $47,066
Volunteer Richmond - $38,355
Canadian Mental Health Association (Pathways clubhouse) - $34,340
View the full grants report here.
