2019 Operating Budget: Cannabis funding update, Volunteer Central on life support

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The grant was approved into the 2019 Operating Budget by city council on Monday. Red Deer will receive the third most of the 52 communities eligible, less than only Calgary and Edmonton.

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Mayor Tara Veer says there are two very important points to be made.

“One shared by mayors all across the province is when the federal government first allocated revenues with respect to cannabis, the federal government was very clear with its intention that 75 per cent of those revenues were to go directly to municipalities to offset costs incurred,” Veer states. “Mayors all across the country have taken exception to the fact that the 75 per cent of revenues have not yet come to municipalities.”

Council heard Monday that The City spent roughly $350,000 prior to legalization.

“Secondly, I do think it’s important that the funding we recognized today is only a small portion of the anticipated $425,000 worth of costs specifically related to cannabis we’ll incur in 2019,” Veer adds.

There are many more cannabis-related costs to come, according to City Manager Craig Curtis.

“Some of it is obviously around enforcement if we find any issues, and some of it will be on testing. The others will be training for our enforcement folks, but also to inform the public about health risks. All those things can be done under the grant,” Curtis says.

“It’s really hard to say (if the funding is enough) because we expended quite a few funds in 2018 with regards to zoning, and now we’re getting into the process for enforcement and it’s untried waters. Some surveys suggest the uptake of cannabis users will be fairly small, but it’s a wait and see thing.”

One possible use for some of the dollars is the implementation of a CCTV system in the downtown area, an initiative first identified in The City’s 2018-2020 Annual Policing Plan.

VOLUNTEER CENTRAL

Volunteer Central is once again fighting for its life.

City council went into its budget meeting on Monday with a recommendation from administration to deny the funding request from Volunteer Central for $120,000 in both 2019 and 2020.

However, Councillor Ken Johnston moved that amount in one-time funding, giving an impassioned speech for why council should show its support.

“As council is aware, this agency faces its demise depending on the outcome of our funding decision, so we need to soberly consider what it looks like when there isn’t a coordinated agency for volunteers in this city. I think all of council gets the worth of volunteerism, gets the economic worth, and we’re going to see it on full display in five or six weeks,” Johnston said, pointing out the Canada Winter Games, which are expected to have an economic spin-off near $130 million, couldn’t happen without volunteers.

There are currently 80 non-profits supported by Volunteer Central, he also noted, and more than 65 volunteer opportunities advertised on the agency’s website.

“They’re the small ones that have a mandate and are wondering ‘How do we get people to come in and sit at our table?’ Volunteer Central has a full suite of development workshops scheduled up to June 2019, and if you take a look at these workshops, I think you’d be quite impressed,” Johnston continued.

He also made remarks about the organization’s inability to draw on peoples’ heartstrings due to the type of work they do, thereby making it more difficult to have a successful fundraising campaign.

Councillor Tanya Handley, who couldn’t be reached following the meeting, stated during that she doesn’t believe it should be the municipality’s role to fund an organization like Volunteer Central.

Ultimately, the proposed amount was changed to just $90,000 for one year. That number was approved by council with an agreement to try and help Volunteer Central over the next year move closer to becoming sustainable on its own. 

In a letter addressed to council, Volunteer Central chairperson Kay Kenny wrote that her organization is at the heart of the community.

“Current heart health shows the community is failing in its commitment in spite of 72 per cent support from its residents for The City to support its volunteers as shown in the 2017 Ipsos Reid Survey,” Kenny penned.

“Without the ‘heart,’ or Volunteer Central, the ‘body,’ or community, will struggle to find alternate life-sustaining blood for its ‘extremities.’ Will City staff move into a delivery mode at double or triple the cost? Try to rebuild years of connections and collaboration, that, in the words of 80 member organizations, is currently ‘top notch’ and everything they require for their volunteer-based support?”

Kenny estimated that the amount of volunteer hours given in 2018 via opportunities promoted by Volunteer Central equates to approximately $16.1 million in annual donated labour.

In 2018, Volunteer Central received just over $27,000 from The City, and another $81,000 in 2017.

UTILITIES

Council also approved increases to utility rates for 2019. 

The increases are as follows:

Electric, Light and Power: 2.25 per cent
Water: 2.25 per cent
Wastewater: 2.25 per cent
Waste Management: 2.25 per cent

OTHER

i) $124,000 approved for The City to continue implementing the initiatives of its Community Safety Strategy

ii) $80,000 grant from the province to put towards the clean up of debris related to drug use

-Close to $200,000 was spent on this in 2018

-Turning Point distributes up to 45,000 needles throughout AHS’s Central Zone each month, primarily in Red Deer

iii) $20,000 in operating funding for the Urban Aboriginal Voices Society

-The agency had requested $90,000 to fund a staff member and move into the new Culture Services building, allowing them access to community space to expand their programs

-A report notes that the request is premature because the top floor of the building is yet to be renovated, and because the future office space at Asooahum Crossing is uncertain

-The approved amount represents enough to devise a business plan in the meantime to outline the sustainability of the UAVS and detail its plans for the future

iv) $160,000 for operational funding at the Central Alberta Crime Prevention Centre

-Council heard the agency moved 5% towards being self-sustainable in 2018

v) Funding requests from the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra and Sunnybrook Farm were both denied, although it was advised that both can apply for the newly topped up Community Culture Development Fund

vi) A funding request for operational dollars at the Red Deer Airport was also denied

-The airport stated in a letter that with the additional money, it hoped to capitalize on the green energy wave by attracting a large-scale solar farm which could generate between $50,000 and $100,000/year in revenue

-The airport was requesting an additional $118,000 on top of the $255,000 it’s already getting from The City in 2018

-The request has also been made to Red Deer County

vii) $536,000 approved for the final rollout and implementation of the city-wide blue and black cart program

-Residents were recently asked to notify The City which size carts they would like delivered to their homes; with regards to black carts, 17 per cent wanted small, 74 per cent wanted medium, and 8 per cent wanted the larger cart. As for blue carts, 16 per cent wanted small, 74 per cent wanted medium, and 10 per cent wanted large.

-40 per cent of residents responded; the other 60 will get medium by default

Following debate on Monday, the proposed property tax increase remains at 2.33 per cent. Debate resumes Tuesday at 1 p.m. and is expected to wrap up sometime on Wednesday.