Community Grants have been provided for some years with a budget around $40K per year. There are really two categories: 1) Organizations supported by the Town and given grants every year and 2) groups that sometimes get grants depending on the whim of councillors. There are a couple in the first category who have moved into the regular budget and no longer categorized as getting a grant. These are the Art Gallery and the Concert Band. The last time grants were discussed, at a Standing Committee meeting in April, staff proposed a policy to split grants per these categories. Then at the following Council meeting, this policy was approved with the proviso that category one organizations would have to sign an MOU. An announcement by the Town on October 3rd listed the organizations in category one and reminded those in category two to get their applications in before 31 October.
Category one
The Town describes this group as “long-term cash and in-kind recipients through the annual grant program” – they don’t use the term “category”.
- Cobourg and District Historical Society – $2,492 (in kind)
- Cobourg Ecology Garden – $2,500
- Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club – $3,800 (in kind)
- Victoria Hall Volunteers – $4,000 (in kind)
- Victorian Operetta Society – $3,000 (in kind)
- Cobourg Museum Foundation – $7.000 ($4,000 property taxes)
These groups will all be required to sign MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) that spell out the mutual agreement between them and the Town and presumably how the amount they receive will be calculated. The dollar amount shown above indicates how much they were recently granted.
All others will be required to complete a form available on the Town web site here.
The application page notes that if an organization received a grant in 2024 “and would like to be considered again for 2024 (sic – I think they mean 2025), (they) must also submit the Municipal Grant Reporting Form before Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 4 pm.” That date has passed so hopefully the groups who got grants last year have submitted already. There is currently no statement of how much would be available although not all Councillors are happy to have category 2 grants at all.
It is not clear what grant approvals for the 2024 year were in fact made although presumably all category ones were approved and “paid”. There was never any public announcement.
Resources
- Town Announcement reminding re grant applications
- Town Grants Page – including application form
- Town Grants Policy (pdf) – applies to Category 2.
Cobourg Blog Posts
- Community Grants Process stirs up Council – 3 April 2024
- Community Grant requests get trimmed – In the end, the list shown was not approved – 18 January 2024
Gimmee, gimmee, gimmee that’s all people can say these days. My vote would be “NO”. Earn it yourselves. Hold a bake sale, raffle, ask for donations of “old stuff” people have laying around the house, that I’m sure they don’t know where to get rid of, and hold a “garage sale”. We give and give, a dollar only stretches so far, then taxes will go up, to pay for every hand that is out there with an “I want” written on it.
Tucker
I am not a member of the Northumberland New Ventures Band, if your comment is directed at them from David Marshall’s comment below. But I know members in the Band. It is an amazing organization which services anyone in the Cobourg/Port Hope area who wants to learn how to read sheet music and play an instrument of their choice. Or to continue playing in a band while they are still working or retired. The band members – 100 strong in beginner to advanced band groups – pay a high annual due, rent their practic space, hold concerts to raise money, have a huge yard sale once a year, have other fund raising events and are a registered charity which issues tax receipts. They also play concerts for free at local retirement homes and for other local organizations. I am guessing that if they wanted the town to help them, it could be to partially contribute towards buying instruments to be owned by the band and used by new members who wanted to see if after a year wanted to purchase buying their own instrument. Wind, brass and percussion instruments are very expensive. Their website is:
https://www.newventuresband.com/about-us/
Tha New Ventures has been entertaining Cobourgians for ten years and has not received a grant. We perform many concerts in town and elsewhere. We would appreciate considering providing us with a grant of any amount. I am one of the music directors and work hard to provide quality performances for our guests. Thank you, David.
Wonder what the actual cost has been in the last year on this measley $40k Grant Process, with all of Council’s gaffs, countless arguments, staff time creating MOU’s and the list goes on?
Forget about budgeting for East pier maintenance
Oh. You already have
One more council, kicking that can down the road one more time. Shame really.
One more electorate, electing retreads, prima donnas and
the like.