Wakamow Valley keeps its full grant funding while other groups see theirs reduced

The Wakamow Valley Authority will retain all of its municipal grant funding this year since it has seen an increase in users during the pandemic began and needs to maintain the park.

Meanwhile, city council’s travel budget has been reduced to zero, while the mayor’s travel budget has been reduced by 50 per cent.

These were just two decisions council made during its May 11 regular meeting as it attempted to reduce the 2020 tax increase to zero per cent from 2.3 per cent, as a way to alleviate any financial suffering residents and businesses have experienced during the pandemic. Council eventually reached a zero-per-cent tax increase for 2020 — by eliminating or deferring $703,636 in spending — after 90 minutes of discussion.

Wakamow Valley Authority (WVA) was one of nine third-party groups that faced a reduction in municipal funding for 2020. The municipality had agreed to give the WVA $329,612 this year; city administration proposed reducing the authority’s grant by $7,600, as part of overall reductions of $166,700. (Since the WVA kept its full grant, the overall reduction in third-party funding decreased to $159,100).

The reduction did not sit well with Coun. Heather Eby, who pointed out while the amount seems insignificant, it matters to the organization since it is still operating. She has heard that activity in the valley has increased nearly 14-fold since more people have been using the area. “I know everyone needs to do their fair share, but Wakamow Valley deserves it more than ever with the amount of traffic it has on a daily basis,” she said.

Eby wondered if council’s travel budget could be eliminated for the rest of 2020 as there was doubt they would be travelling anywhere for the remainder of the year. Council’s travel budget is $41,635 and councillors have used little of it, said finance director Brian Acker. It is an option to cut this expense to reach the zero-per-cent tax increase. Each councillor’s travel budget is roughly $4,600, while the mayor’s is about $13,000.

Eby then introduced a motion to cut council’s travel expenses to $0 for the rest of this year, while the mayor’s travel budget would be reduced by 50 per cent. Council voted unanimously in favour of the resolution.

Coun. Dawn Luhning also agreed that WVA should keep its full municipal funding, as it has faced budget challenges the last few years since the provincial government has not provided stable funding. While the valley is busy with more people walking, the organization is losing money since large-scale events can’t be held.

For example, Luhning’s annual Moose Jawg typically pays $1,500 a year to hold the run there. She pointed out if other events paid similar fees, then the WVA will lose plenty of money this year.

While it’s a great thought to support the WVA financially, that organization has a healthy reserve of more than $1 million, said Coun. Chris Warren. He thought if the WVA faced any financial shortcomings, it should dip into its reserves the same way city council uses its accumulated surplus.

Contrary to how some councillors think, those reserves were created; the WVA built up that money through fundraisers and contributions and donations from companies and individuals, said Coun. Brian Swanson. That funding is for its operations and is its sole source of reserves.

After further discussion, council voted 6-1 in favour of the Wakamow Valley Authority keeping its $7,600 grant. Warren was opposed.