Budget talks begin Monday

Councillors will be asked Monday to debate an increase in the service grant Showplace gets from the city every year.

Showplace has asked for an annual grant of $137,181 (an increase of $30,000), starting in 2018.

It is also asking for $75,000 in 2018 and a further $75,000 in 2019 to help do some renovations.

Showplace has reduced its staff and also cut costs lately so it can pay off a deficit of about $194,000.

But there are still many upgrades needed at the venue, such as the replacement of the 20-year-old theatre seats (cost: $300,000) and replacement of the front doors to make them more accessible ($20,000).

Roof repairs would cost $40,000, and a new front marquee would cost $300,000.

There are grants available, says the city staff report - Showplace has applied for a Trillium grant from the province to help pay for new seats, for example.

But the venue needs to demonstrate ongoing support from the city in order to have the best chance at grants from any higher level of government, the report states.

City staff recommends giving Showplace the funding increase, because this not-for-profit board can run the venue more efficiently than the city ever could.

The Showplace request is one of the items on the agenda this week as city council begins its 2018 budget deliberations.

Members of the public had a chance to offer input to council during a meeting last week.

Livestreaming of the city’s budget talks will be available on The Examiner’s website. It all begins Monday at 5 p.m. at City Hall and meetings are expected every evening until at least Thursday.