Whitehorse maintains grants for non-profits

Whitehorse City Council has voted to maintain a program of grants which offset property taxesfor non-profit groups in the city.

On Monday night, councillors voted against a motion to reduce the grantsbut acknowledged the city faces financial pressure and the program might change in the future.

Public service grants are effectively a tax exemption, where non-profit groups pay taxes which are later reimbursed by the city.

The tax break goes out to different organizations including museums, cultural centres and sporting groups.Last week, Whitehorse's MacBride Museum of Yukon History said a reduction in grants would have strained their budget.Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis was hard to convince, but he eventually voted to keep the grants as they are.

He said Whitehorse is caught between a rock and a hard place: dozens of groups want funding, but the public doesn't want higher taxes

"It's not a money grab, it's not anything that we're trying to do other than be sustainable to our community," he said.

Councillor Dave Stockdale said removing the grants would not have been worth it.

"I think it is nitpicking, and it's pretty hard, when we hustled up $192,000 for a ski lift and we claw back $19,000 from these organizations. It seems kind of weird," he said.

Councillors spoke to the effect that in the future,funding for various interest groups could beassessed individually.