The Yarmouth Arts Regional Council will receive considerably less money from the The Town of Yarmouth this year.
The town reduced its annual grant to Th’YARC from $5,000 to $580.
The council had budgeted $70,000 to give out in grants.
Mayor Pam Mood says 36 organizations asked for $229,000 and each request is dealt with based on need.
“The policy clearly states that we have to reduce the grant to any organization that accumulates surplus funds, and that was certainly the case here.”
Mood says she understands the optics may not be good, but she says the town did not make it’s decision vindictively.
“No, absolutely not. I understand that optically that may be how it looks but it’s certainly not the case. It makes me sad that we have to make difficult decisions but we do not make them based on ‘how will this look.’ We certainly don’t make our decisions based on optics. We make our decisions based on fact. We knew right away that some people might take this the wrong way. The town has always been the largest municipal contributor to Th’YARC by a large margin. We have 26 per cent of the population. That’s 1/4 of the population that’s giving, for example, 350 per cent more in municipal funding to this organization than our neighbouring municipalities. We also had additions this year. The veterans are looking for a new van, the HOPE Centre is looking for extra funding. We have a list of organizations that look for tax grants. Th’YARC doesn’t do the tax piece. According to their assessment, if they paid taxes, it would be $20,000 a year that would be going into the town coffers.”
The town and Th’YARC have been at odds over the location of a new arts and culture centre to be built in the downtown.
Th’YARC is proceeding with its own facility at the former Arcadia school.
Mitch Bonnar, president of Th’YARC board of directors says they are scrambling to make up the shortfall.
But Bonnar says they’ll survive.
He is though, suspicious of the timing.
“It’s just an indicator of where the town’s thinking is, I don’t know. They have lots of places to put the money and I guess they have to make their decisions but it seems a little strange, at this time, cutting the amount of funding by that amount. It seems to be the public opinion that this was vindictive. I can’t say that personally. Obviously the mayor has her reasons and I guess she’ll have to deal with it in the public.”
Early this morning Bonnar issued this news release:
Th’YARC SCRAMBLES TO MAKE UP FUNDING SHORTFALL
The President of the Yarmouth Arts Regional Council (Th’YARC), Mitch Bonnar, announced today that a significant reduction in annual funding from the Town of Yarmouth will put a strain on Th’YARC’s finances.
“We are always grateful for the Town’s funding support,” says Bonnar. “Having said that, over the past two years this funding has declined from $9,280.00 to $5,000.00, and this year down to $580.00.” Bonnar says this massive decrease will present a challenge to Th’YARC’s programming ability.
“No matter what new arts centre is eventually built in the Yarmouth area, Th’YARC on Parade Street is what our community has now, and all we will have for the next year or longer,” says Bonnar. “The people of Yarmouth, and our summer visitors, can’t enjoy plays, or comedy, or music in a theatre that isn’t built yet. Our board and membership have made a commitment to keep the lights on in our existing centre until there is an alternative. These funding cutbacks are not making this any easier.”
