Stretching Your Tax Dollars!

Courtesy of the City of Quesnel:

Editor's Note -- Weekly Quesnel Council News column written by Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson.  He can be reached via email here

The previous Quesnel City Council made it a strategic objective to stretch our local tax dollars by seeking grant funding for both minor and major investments in the community and for transition-related initiatives, such as rebranding, community-based marketing, and economic diversification. At the very outset of this term the new Council, along with our partners, is continuing that trend.

Not all local government’s pursue grant funding for a variety of reasons; missing out on the opportunity to maximize and accelerate the implementation of strategic initiatives, invest in core infrastructure, and enhance or modernize amenities in the community.

First, the timing of the grants is completely out of our control. We never know when a grant will be made available by either the Federal or Provincial Government and when a grant program is announced we’re most often given a short timeframe to get our application together. Despite the requirement for a quick turn around on our end, however, the higher levels of government often take a long time (a very long time in some cases) to actually make their decisions and announce the successful grant recipients. Once announced, local governments are then often hard pressed to complete their funded projects in short order, on a timeline dictated by the granting agency.

Second, the application process is often onerous, requiring a level of due diligence and technical expertise that effectively necessitates local governments hiring external consultants and spending tax dollars working up the projects to “shovel ready” status. This can be a risky and somewhat expensive proposition, especially for smaller communities that do not have a lot of resources to begin with.

Third, most grant programs require local governments to contribute their own cash to the project, anywhere from half of the total cost to a minimum of ten percent of the total project cost. Again, many communities simply do not have the cash reserves to participate in these programs unless the program directly aligns with a current need they have been saving for or would have to do with their own tax dollars anyway if the grant was not available.

Over the past four years, the City of Quesnel has received a record amount of grant funding for many initiatives, such as the West Quesnel Land Stability project; a new watermain; our rebranding, new website, and new community marketing program; and our Forestry Think Tank process. In partnership with the Cariboo Regional District, we’ve also received funding for a major mountain bike trails project, a new building at Alex Fraser Park, and major improvements to the hosting capacity of the new Arena precinct.

We’ve attracted these grants by having current strategic plans that reflect today’s priorities, a solid asset management system (a requirement for infrastructure grants), having the cash reserves we need to participate in the programs, and being proactive, flexible, and adaptable by tailoring our priorities to meet the priorities of the granting agencies.

The City is once again in the process of applying for more grant funding to advance our strategic initiatives. We’re also heavily involved in assisting the Lhtako Dene Nation with their grant application for an exciting new cultural centre at the confluence of the Fraser and Quesnel Rivers, and the CRD with a grant application that would see significant improvements to our 35-year-old Arts and Recreation Centre.

In short, rather than shying away from the lottery of obtaining Federal and Provincial grants, we’ve made it a strategic priority to adapt our systems to attract as many of these additional dollars to our community and the North Cariboo as possible.