Community groups will be asked to submit fee waiver requests by October of the year prior
Prince Albert’s non-profits will have to start planning their big annual fundraisers a little earlier if they’re looking to use City of Prince Albert facilities.
On Tuesday, the city announced revisions to its waving of fees procedure.
Community groups will now have to submit their request to the community service department by Oct. 1 for the following calendar year. This year, since Oct. 1 falls on a Sunday, the forms must be submitted by 4:45 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 2.
The Oct. 1 deadline will allow council to consider the requests during budget deliberations, typically held in November of each year.
Some of the provisions of the waiving of fees and in-kind support policy will remain the same, including that only one request per organization will be considered per year, that waivers will not be considered for private events or activities not open to the general public, and that waiver requests will not be considered for non-city fees or expenses.
Organizations that have applied in previous years have been notified in writing about the change and provided with new forms. The Forms are available at the city website under Things To Do – Event Planning.
Community Services director Jody Boulet explained some of the reasoning behind the change.
“What we’re looking to do is formalize the process a little more,” he said. “We’ve had multiple annual events the city has traditionally supported. What we want to do is for the 2018 budget, compile all the related information for existing events, but also consider events that haven’t traditionally received support from the city, or groups that are looking to explore that opportunity.”
Asking for all applications by Oct. 1 allows the city to budget for the waiving of fees. It can be difficult to adjust a tight budget if a request is made and approved mid-year.
For more on this story, please see the June 14 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
