Summerside tightens community group funding

The City of Summerside, P.E.I., has tightened up its guidelines for supporting local community groups.

The new Community Support Policy, passed by council Monday night, lays out criteria for groups to be eligible. They must help the city in specific areas such safety, arts or economic development and they must be located within the city.

The revenue streams are very limited. Coun. Brian McFeely

The policy will cover both cash and in-kind donations.

"The requests seem to be growing all the time and there's more requests coming for the use of various city venues," said Coun. Brian McFeely, chair of the governance, policy and strategy committee.

"The revenue streams are very limited so we need to control expenses. This is an attempt to get control of this piece in a meaningful way."

McFeely said the city spent about $500,000 on supporting community groups last year. That won't change substantially. The aim of the policy is not to cut the budget but to spend the money more strategically.

The application process will be very similar, he said, with the call for submissions going out in the fall.

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