Campbell River city council voted Thursday (Nov. 21) to decrease funding to non-profit organizations in Campbell River, while also streamlining the city's approach to its grant process, with most of the changes taking effect in 2026.
Chief financial officer Alaina Maher said the new grant policy will allow the city to continue to support non-profits in "improved ways."
"It's less subjective, more transparent, and more inclusive," said Maher of the new policy.
By providing $2.87 million in grants, leases, and facility rentals to non-profit organizations, she said, the changes reflect a $370,000 decrease in the city's current funding. She added the changes would also align city spending with comparable communities.
Currently, the City of Campbell River spends more on non-profit funding than comparable communities, such as Courtenay and Penticton, according to the city report.
During the presentation to the council, finance services manager Aaron Daur said the proposed changes streamline three existing policies – the permissive tax exemption, the community grant policy, and a segment of the property policy – into a single policy called the "financial assistance policy."
Permissive tax exemptions will decrease from 1.7 percent (or $720,000) to 1.4 percent (or $603,000) of the previous year's tax, resulting in an estimated savings of up to $220,000 each year, he said.
Community grants will no longer be restricted to the arts and culture sector. Instead, they will be available to all organizations that contribute directly to the city's social, recreational, cultural, environmental, and economic well-being. A total of $150,000 will be budgeted for community grants, with a maximum of $20,000 per organization.
The city currently awards $277,000 in grants, meaning the savings will amount to $127,000, Daur said.
The city operating grants are available to organizations operating on city-owned property – and, under the changes, are no longer restricted to arts and culture organizations. The budget will decrease to $550,000, from the $654,000 the municipality currently awards.
For example, the Campbell River Art Gallery was awarded an operating grant of $80,000 in 2024. But, due to the changes, with a budget of $550,000, it would instead receive $67,000 – a reduction of $13,000.
The changes are substantial, Daur said. City staff recommend the changes be phased in over 2025, taking effect in 2026.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Kermit Dahl addressed the significant community uproar over the changes. He said there is a "lack of understanding" about the substantial funding the city currently allocates to non-profits.
"Like many cities across Canada, Campbell River is facing the challenge of maintaining our service levels while meeting the needs of a growing community and keeping taxes affordable," Dahl said. "We also recognize that we provide significant funding to the non-profit sector each year."
Coun. Ben Lanyon said a five per cent reduction for certain organizations would not lead to dire consequences. He recommended the organizations reach out to the community for philanthropic donations. These days many families are just struggling to put food on the table and don't have any extra money to put toward a higher property tax, he added.
'Intense' approach to keeping taxes low
Just one councillor, Tanille Johnston, voted against the changes.
"We are taking a pretty intense, in my opinion, approach to where we're finding the money to keep the taxation as low as is desired," she said. "This is also a cumulative effect of having councils that have not, in my opinion, operated the community in a way that can sustain itself."
She pointed to what she called the city's "historic commitment" to single-family housing as a culprit, adding that single-family homes don't pay for themselves, setting up the city to implement drastic tax measures.
Sara Lopez Assu, the Campbell River Art Gallery's executive director, attended Thursday's council meeting. To her, the city is playing a "numbers game" and is "intentionally misleading."
"I'm angry and I'm disappointed," she told the Mirror, adding when it comes to the actual money the art gallery receives, the community grant cuts amount to about 25 per cent, while the permissive tax cuts add up to 16 per cent.
Asking organizations to seek philanthropic donations is "tone deaf," she said, as organizations, like the art gallery, already do so.
She said city funding represents about 13 per cent of the art gallery's total operating budget. However, they use those funds, which are core operating funds, to leverage a "multiplier effect" with other funding sources.
"We can show up with money in our pocket and say, 'Hey, match it.' And that is what we all have been doing. So we bring in four times what the city invests," she said.
Lopez Assu is also not convinced the city funds more than the so-called comparable communities.
"It's nine (comparative) communities that the city report is based on," she said. "Five out of those nine communities don't even have a public art gallery. You're comparing complete apples to oranges.
"They're comparing us to communities that don't have arts and cultural assets," she said.
To help with this transition, council also approved a $20,000 budget to implement the policy and provide workshops to help organizations navigate the changes. The city is also in discussions about creating a grant process with the Strathcona Regional District for non-profits that benefit the entire region, including the city.
