Good News For Arts Groups As Council Puts Brakes Funding Cuts
Prince George, BC – After being inundated with calls and emails from concerned members of the local arts community over the weekend, Prince George City Councillors chose not to go ahead with proposed cuts in funding to Theatre Northwest and the Prince George Symphony Orchestra…
They also opted to hold off on consolidating the City's community enhancement, social, and cultural grants into one program – the myPG Social Development Fund – citing a lack of consultation with the affected nonprofit groups.
Historically, the City's yearly grants to both TNW and the PGSO have been approximately 13-percent of their annual revenues – the groups received grants of $113-thousand dollars and $58-thousand dollars, respectively, last year. The grant to the Community Arts Council has been about seven-percent of its annual revenue, or $26-thousand dollars in 2013. In a bid to standardize the funding, city staff had recommended council keep this year's grants at 2013 levels; funding be trimmed to 11-percent for both Theatre Northwest and the symphony in 2015, while boosting the CAC's funding to 8.5-percent of its revenue; and all three groups receive grants at 10-percent of their annual revenue by 2016.
The move would have 'freed up' about $27-thousand dollars for the myPG fund, bringing the city's total available for grants to other groups to just over $187-thousand dollars. But councillor after councillor expressed concerns with making cuts at this time.
"We've heard from a number of folks – comments around reducing (funding) to Theatre Northwest and the symphony just when we're going into 2015 and their preparation, their involvement in the Games," said Councillor Lyn Hall. "And, I think it's already been mentioned, the inability or the trouble they will have in leveraging monies from other organizations, other levels of government."
"I think on the eve of our biggest social and cultural and sporting event that we're going to have in this community – to look at decreasing funding to those organizations that are going to be very involved in that," said Councillor Murry Krause. "The timing is all off."
Councillor Hall also expressed concern community groups hadn't been consulted prior to council being asked to endorse the consolidated grant program, he said the multitude of calls councillors have received since the agenda came out last Wednesday indicates the 'cart' is in the wrong spot. "I think we need to be cognizant of how we report out from various committees and how we notify the public of certain things that are going to take place and I think we better sharpen things up a little bit here."
In the end, councillors voted in favour of maintaining 2013 funding levels to both TNW and the PGSO for the next three years, while boosting the Community Arts Council's grant by $8900 in 2015 and 2016. They also approved a recommendation from Councillor Hall directing city staff to consult with local nonprofits on the proposed myPG program, with the hopes the new program might be in place by budget consultations in the fall.
Comments
Speaking of winter games. I don’t want to sound like a negative Nellie, but the putrid smell I smelt coming down the Hart yesterday and into town is certainly not going to be something we would want people to remember about PG. But, unless the city can get the refinery and pulp mills to stop venting for the entire time of the winter games, the only thing people are going to be saying about PG after their experience here is how much it stinks and that they are glad they don’t live here. I think the winter games are going to showcase PG for exactly what it is, a mill town, no matter how many universities, art facilities, condos you can put here, the outcome is still the same. PG stinks and no one is going to be rushing to move here anytime soon.
Let us play nice with everyone in an election year..
Good decision Mayor and Council!
Oh yes, this is a very good decision. Now we can pay for people to go to the show or go to the symphony but can’t fix the roads to get there on. Where do these people get their brains?
In 2000, 2001 and 2002, the three levels of government gave TNW about 30% of the ticket price. Thus, if TNW would increase a $25 ticket to $32.50 and get the same number of patrons, with the same amount of additional private donations, the theatre would operate without general public money. A very high percentage of those dollars stay in the community.
From 2003 onward, there was a substantial increase in public funding of TNW, moving rapidly from 40% to 50 and 60& in 2008. Those increases were as a result of federal and provincial increases, not municipal increases.
Ticket prices at the CN Centre range from twice that to 5 times and more depending on the production and the seat location. Most of that money leaves the community via the artists. From 2009 onward it dropped to an average of about 45%..
However, from that year onward, the Cityâs contribution was increased from $72,000 to $118,000. The rationale was that the City would assist TNW to transition from one artistic director to another over a three year period. That funding has stayed in place while the provincial funding has moved from the $120,000 level to around the $70,000 level. In effect, the province has downloaded a support to the City.
It is interesting that Councillors seem to believe that senior government level funding is dependent on local government funding, implying that senior levels will increase if local levels increase. In the case of the province, nothing could be further from the truth.
In 2008, the City was providing 26% of the government funds. In 2013 it has moved to 47%. Where are we heading with this? Why is Council not lobbying the senior governments to step up to the plate once more. Why is TNW not increasing its ticket prices to cover some of the slack?
Councillors and staff are once more not doing their homework.
In Alberta the oil folks there are “sequestering” CO2 because of climate change. Cannot the pulp mills “sequester” their stink under the ground too?
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