Council debates holding back funding to community groups

Summerside city councillors debated on Tuesday a change to a bylaw that would hold back a small portion of city funding for community groups until a final report is submitted. According to council, only about three out of 17 community groups submitted their final reports to the city on time during the most recent fiscal year. Because of the lateness of some of the submissions, council discussed adding two new clauses to the city’s already existing bylaw that would give community groups 75 per cent of the funding and then the remaining 25 per cent once their reports had been received by city staff. Some councillors feared that holding 25 per cent of funding back was too heavy-handed. “A 25 per cent hold back could cause issues for some groups that may already be tight on their budget,” said Coun. Brent Gallant. Other councillors agreed, but still declared the need for a stimulus to hold community groups accountable in hopes of receiving final reports on time. It was decided that council would supply 90 per cent of the funding and then hold back 10 per cent until the final report was received. With that, council recommended a motion be brought forward at the next city council meeting set for Sept. 19, and going forward in the coming years if the stimulus (the 10 per cent) is not enough to encourage groups to submit their reports on time than the amounts could be changed accordingly.