Many non-profit groups in Rossland received a financial boost from the city last week.
The City of Rossland announced 11 recipients of its Community Grant Funding Program at city council on Jan. 4.
Formerly known as Grant-in-Aid Funding, the annual cycle provides money for non-profit community groups whose contributions, services and programs are deemed a benefit to all Rosslanders.
The grants come out of the city’s own funds, obtained primarily through property taxes.
“It’s general revenue,” said Rossland Mayor Kathy Moore. “We try to keep it a certain percentage of our own source revenue, so it isn’t parcel taxes, it’s just general property taxation. It doesn’t include any money from grants or anything like that, and we try to keep it fairly stable every year.”
In total, $287,500 in grants were given to local groups, and while a couple of applications were denied, all were weighed on merits to the community, and can be approved up to four years, unless designated for a short-term program, project or event.
The greatest allotment went to the Rossland Public Library, which received $136,900 for its ongoing service to the community.
The Rossland Museum Society was granted $60,100, Kootenay Columbia Trail Society $29,000, Tourism Rossland $20,500, the Sustainability Commission $13,400, Rossland Council for Arts and Culture $10,000, the Heritage Commission $5,700, Rossland Tennis Society $4,200, WildSafeBC – Rossland $4,000, Trail and District Chamber of Commerce $3,200, and the Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network received $500.
All recipients must provide a written report to Rossland council that outlines the success of their activity and how their funds were used. For multi‐year funding, the city requires a written report of the previous year and all accountability documents in order to receive the next year of funding.
“We try to be as fair as we can with everybody, and it’s hard because we always get more requests for money than we have,” added Moore. “So we have to draw the line somewhere.”
