Did Brant neighborhood teams miss out with new grant system?

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The Brantford Symphony Orchestra, Brantford Guitar Membership and Boys & Women Membership Brantford received funding from the County of Brant this 12 months.

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However in line with one councillor, some longtime county teams — like Burford Minor Hockey and Burford Optimist Membership — missed out.

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“Persons are annoyed,” Coun. David Miller informed his fellow councillors final month.

“I do know all of them do good work,” he mentioned of the teams who obtained funds of as much as $10,000 for operations, occasions or capital initiatives.

However he mentioned he would moderately see county cash go to “one thing like minor soccer the place 90 per cent of these youngsters are from the county versus, say, a Brantford-based group the place perhaps solely 10 per cent of the children could be from the county.”

Brantford teams who obtained funding needed to show they profit the county, Heather Boyd, basic supervisor of company providers for the county, informed councillors.

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However she mentioned the county may maybe “tighten that up by way of percentages” in future.

For the previous two years, this system has been administered by Brant Neighborhood Basis (BCF) on behalf of the county.

Over the previous 26 years, the muse has distributed “practically $10 million” of grants from basis funds, plus oversees the Metropolis of Brantford’s grants program, government director Anne Marie Peirce informed The Spectator.

The county appeared to convey the method out of home to take away the “cumbersome and intensive” administrative load on county workers, in line with a report exploring options.

And though it price $38,500 for BCF to supervise this system in 2025 — 10 per cent of the proposed funds allocation for grants — outsourcing would save funds general, the report mentioned.

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It was additionally thought to make sure “goal distribution” of funds, with out “any perceived bias from members of council or workers concerned within the scoring course of,” the report mentioned.

However Miller urged it could have inadvertently created “a little bit of a bias” for bigger, extra established teams who’ve extra apply writing grant functions.

As an illustration, a number of teams that “usually” get neighborhood grants from the county have been “deemed ineligible due to incomplete software supplies,” in line with a report council noticed this spring.

However the basis awards grants primarily based on the standards established by the county, and it was council’s route to make incomplete functions ineligible for funding, Boyd informed The Spectator in an emailed assertion.

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If functions weren’t moved ahead within the consideration course of, it was “as a result of there have been crucial paperwork not submitted as required for his or her software or they didn’t doc how the applying would profit the residents of the County of Brant,” she mentioned.

“All grants are pretty assessed, irrespective of the jurisdiction, the quantity of the grant request or the dimensions of the group,” by a committee of volunteers with “a cross-section of expertise and experiences” from the town and county, Peirce mentioned.

Candidates get entry to a granting webinar and the muse provides assist if candidates have questions or want clarification, she mentioned.

Nonetheless, “there may have been perhaps a bit extra forwards and backwards with a few of these teams going by way of that course of for the primary time to make sure that they had ample alternative,” Coun. Jennifer Kyle informed her fellow councillors.

Workers do a yearly evaluation of this system, recommending potential enhancements to council. The subsequent overview might be offered in September and “any enter is welcome,” Boyd mentioned.

Celeste Percy-Beauregard is a Native Journalism Initiative Reporter primarily based on the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Authorities of Canada.

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