Mayoral fund sparks debate

Mayor Greg Dionne speaks during a 2017 city council meeting. -- Herald file photo.

The Mayor’s Compassion Fund was once again the subject of discussion at Monday’s city council meeting as Prince Albert’s elected officials debated a motion to allow tax-deductible donations.

Since being approved during budget debates in November, Mayor Greg Dionne said several residents have come forward offering to donate money for the fund, including one person who donated $1,000.

The new motion is needed to allow the city to issue receipts to donors while keeping in line with Revenue Canada regulations.

Dionne said he never expected people to donate, but there needs to be more clarification on the matter now that residents have started doing so.

“Since the inception of this fund, we’ve had quite a few citizens come forward and want to make donations to it,” he said. “We did accept one donation, and then we realized that we had to have approval from council to issue a tax receipt.”

In November, council voted to approve the $4,000 fund, which would allow the Mayor to pay small expenses for local residents when they have been wrongly billed or penalized by the city. Payments are made solely at the discretion of the mayor, and limited to residents who are in good standing with the city.

For the rest of this story, please see the March 8 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

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