Staff Report: 2025 Funding Requests

Staff Report: 2025 Funding Requests

Staff Report to Community Advisory Committee

DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 2025
DEPARTMENT: Finance
SUBJECT: 2025 Funding Requests

Contact:
t 250.478.7882
e administration@langford.ca
2nd Floor, 877 Goldstream Avenue
Langford, BC V9B 2X8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Annually, the City provides an opportunity for organizations to apply to the City for funding. The Community Advisory Committee reviews applications, deliberates, and provides recommendations to Council working within the allotted budget.

BACKGROUND:

Adopted in 2015, and amended in 2024, the City of Langford’s Request for Funding Policy POL-0163-FIN, attached to this report as Attachment 1, outlines the criteria for consideration of Grant in Aid requests. As noted within the Committee Terms of Reference and as directed by Council, these requests appear before the Community Advisory Committee prior to consideration by Council. Grant in Aid applications were last reviewed by the Committee in February 2024.

For 2025, applications were due by December 15th and have been appended to this report for reference.

COMMENTARY:

A summary of the Grant in Aid requests have been compiled and attached to this report as Attachment 2. The summary categorizes applications into new requests, and those who have applied for and/or been awarded funds in the past. In addition, and as noted above, complete application packages for each requestor have been included for Committee review as Attachment 3. Not all applicants that applied for funding last year reapplied this year. This is typical from year to year as events, organizations, and initiatives change.

In 2024, the City issued $99,350 through the Grant in Aid program. As the initial 2024 Grant in Aid budget was set at $80,000, the additional funds requested were ultimately approved to be funded through the Council Contingency budget.

The total value of the funding requests received for 2025 is $246,356.31. Given that the 2025 Grant in Aid budget is $85,000, the Committee will need to work within this budget, recommend that Council increase the 2025 Grant in Aid budget or recommend that Council Contingency be used to pay for any amounts over the Grant in Aid budget. If the Committee recommends that Council increase the Grant in Aid budget above $85,000, the result would be an increase in taxation.

The Request for Funding Policy sets a maximum request value of $10,000 per application. All applications received were compliant. The Committee can recommend Council give a full, partial, or denial of any funding request.

As per the policy, preference will be given to applications from organizations based in Langford or those that provide a service directly to Langford residents. Additionally, funding cannot be used by the receiving organization to issue grants to another entity/individual.

As Committee may recall, the Request for Funding Policy was amended by Council in early September 2024, and this is the first time the amended policy has been utilized. Since the amended policy’s adoption, the following advertisement measures were undertaken to notify the public:

• Email sent October 2, 2024, to all 2024 applicants notifying them of the following:
  • The program has been amended
  • Deadline for submission has changed to December 15th annually
  • A dedicated webpage has been created for the Grant in Aid program and will be available year round
  • A new application form has been introduced in response to feedback from applicants and staff
  • A maximum funding request of $10,000 per application has been implemented
  • Applicants will no longer be emailed each year when the application window opens as we are accepting applications throughout the entire year so long as they are for an event taking place in 2025 or between the application deadline and Council’s consideration.
• Social media posts advertising the program changes in October, November, and December 2024.
• Created a dedicated webpage for the Grant in Aid program to be available year-round.
• Reminder email sent December 10, 2024, to all 2024 applicants and those who had expressed interest in the program since the policy amendment in September 2024 serving as a final reminder of the upcoming deadline.

In previous years, the City sent an email to applicants of the previous year and this program was not advertised in any other way.

The webpage created for Grant in Aid has been a useful resource for the public and staff alike. Similarly, the feedback surrounding the program amendments and the introduction of the new form have been positive.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

The allocated budget in the 2024-2028 Financial Plan for this program for 2025 is $85,000. The application request total is $246,356.31, which exceeds the City’s allocated budget by $161,356.31.

Given that the 2025 Grant in Aid budget is $85,000, the Committee will need to work within this budget, recommend that Council increase the 2025 Grant in Aid budget, or recommend that Council Contingency be used to pay for any amounts over the Grant in Aid budget. If the Committee recommends that Council increase the Grant in Aid budget above $85,000, the result would be an increase in taxation.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS:

There are no legal implications associated with this report.

STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:

6d - Support the Efforts of Community Organizations to Expand Services to Youth, Seniors, and Other Underrepresented and Marginalized Groups.

OPTIONS:

Option 1

THAT the Community Advisory Committee recommend that Council approve the following funding applications for the 2025 year: a. (Organization Title): $_____________
b. (Organization Title): $_____________
c. (Organization Title): $_____________
d. Etc.

AND

THAT the following funding applications for the 2025 year be denied: a. (Organization Title): $_____________
b. (Organization Title): $_____________
c. (Organization Title): $_____________
d. Etc.

OR Option 2

THAT the Community Advisory Committee recommend that Council not approve the 2025 Funding Requests.

SUBMITTED BY:

Curtis Staniforth, Manager of Budgets and Revenue

Concurrence:
Michael Dillabaugh, CPA, CA, Director of Finance

Concurrence:
Melisa Miles, Manager of Legislative Services

Concurrence:
Donna Petrie, Senior Manager of Communications & Economic Development

Concurrence:
Yari Nielsen, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities

Concurrence:
Matthew Baldwin, RPP, MCIP, Director of Development Services

Concurrence:
Leah Stohmann, RPP, MCIP, Director of Community Planning and Climate Change

Concurrence:
Katelyn Balzer, P.Eng., Director of Engineering and Public Works

Concurrence:
Marie Watmough, Director of Legislative & Protective Services

Concurrence: Braden Hutchins, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer

Concurrence:
Darren Kiedyk, Chief Administrative Officer

Attachments:

• Attachment 1 – City of Langford Request for Funding Policy (POL-0163-FIN)
• Attachment 2 – 2025 Grant in Aid Request Summary
• Attachment 3 – All 2025 Redacted Application Packages