Proposal to cut community grant program goes nowhere at committee meeting

As Stratford city council continues to grapple with the 2025 budget, one councilor proposed what might be considered a controversial move to cut costs.

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Coun. Mark Hunter suggested the elimination of Stratford’s community grants program at Monday night’s finance and labor relations committee meeting.

Ultimately, the committee, which included all of council, voted on a compromised motion by Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach that suggested cutting the amount granted annually to Stratford General Hospital in half, but extending the city’s time commitment, while removing another $75,000 from the grant budget.

That vote ended in a 5-5 split, which meant the motion was dead.

While there were some community grants Hunter said should remain in place, including those to Gallery Stratford and the hospital, the councilor described the grant program as “involuntary donations” by residents through their property taxes. Hunter suggested the Stratford Perth Community Foundation as a way for organizations that presently receive city grants to find the funding they need.

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“There would be no guarantees, but they would consider grants from organizations like the ones we support. (The foundation) is a group that is funded completely by voluntary money, and I think it is a better vehicle to deal with those grants than the involuntary donations of our residents,” Hunter said.

However, several councilors, including Burbach, balked at the idea of ​​eliminating community grants, noting there were several organizations supported by community grants that are relied on by the city’s lower income residents.

“For instance, United Way, The Local, L’arche Stratford and St. Marys Health Care Foundation, I think those are ones that actually are directly supporting our citizens, especially people with lower incomes,” Burbach said.

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Burbach instead proposed limiting the amount that other organizations could apply for to $5,000.

Coun. Geza Wordofa also expressed support for limiting the number of applicants, while Coun. Cody Sebben was completely opposed to the idea of ​​cutting the grants program in any way.

“It’s hard to think of a motion that would more negatively affect the community, you know, in such a great way,” Sebben said.

This year, the city’s community grants evaluation team, which included three councilors and five staff members, began a review of the grants policy that will continue into next year. The city had previously made a $5-million pledge over 10 years for the hospital’s In Our Hands Capital Campaign. With the city already providing $250,000 this year to the campaign, this 2025 budget proposed to bump that amount to $500,000.

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In 2024, the city awarded a total of $480,000 in grants, including that amount to the hospital. The impact of the provincial government’s Bill 23 More Homes Built Faster Act, which, in part, limits the amount municipalities can collect through development charges to pay for community grants, combined with other multi-year pledges, brought that total to $1,049 million.

While corporate services director Karmen Kruger said the list of grant recipients for 2025 is not yet complete, the draft budget proposes nearly $1.2 million in grants, $350,000 of which would be the city’s portion of Bill 23.

Burbach made her motion following a lengthy recess, with both Mayor Martin Ritsma and Coun. Brad Beatty voicing opposition to changing the pledge to the hospital.

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In a recorded vote on Burbach’s motion, those in favor were:

• Coun. Lesley Biehn
• Coun. Larry McCabe
• Coun. Hunter
• Coun. Burbach
• Coun. Wordofa

Those were opposed:

• Coun. Sebben
• Mayor Ritsma
• Coun. Beatty
• Coun. Bonnie Henderson
• Coun. Harjinder Nijjar

Coun. Taylor Briscoe was absent from the committee meeting.

While budget discussions are still ongoing, the potential property tax increase has only increased since deliberations started. The draft budget originally proposed a 5.9 per cent increase to the property tax levy, but that has now grown to 6.35 per cent. This is partly due to additional staffing needs that have been recommended by the committee, including eight new positions. The next budget meeting will be held some time in January.

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