Salmon Arm council agrees to five year agreement with Salmon Arm Arts Centre featuring an additional $4k in funding

Photo: Luc Rempel

Salmon Arm city council agreed to a five year fee for service agreement with the Salmon Arm Arts Centre featuring a modest $4,000 funding increase despite insistence from the mayor that it will be a difficult budget year ahead.

Salmon Arm city council received a staff report from Erin Jackson, chief administrative officer about a five year fee for service agreement with the Salmon Arm Arts Centre, during its Jan. 27 regular meeting.

“In your package is a letter from Executive Director Christie Watson outlining a request for this term, which would be a five year term,” Jackson explained.

She noted that in past years the arts centre has received a three year term on their fee for service agreements however they have requested a five year term instead.

“At expiry the agreement was $48,237.60 just for the fee for service and council also granted funds for the Pride Project and for the pow wow in the amount of $7,500 total,” she said. “Part of Mr. Watson's request is also to bring those granted amounts into the fee for service. So the proposed amount for 2025 is $60,000 that includes an eight per cent increase over the 2024 fee for service, plus the amount for pride and the pow wow included in that.”

The agreement would then see an increase matched to the B.C. consumer price index for the remaining four years.

“I think the district arts council continues to be a willing, capable, trusted partner for the city of Salmon Arm, aligned with our own cultural master plan,” Coun. Debbie Cannon said. “I think there's great value for the community in terms of offering free community events that folks can attend and I would encourage my colleagues to to support this increase, both the increase and the renewal for five years.”

Jackson also clarified that if council approved the agreement the arts centre funding would no longer be part of upcoming budget deliberations.

Coun. Sylvia Lindgren spoke up to ask if the arts centre had other sources of funding to cover things like staff salaries because, “$60,000 isn’t a lot of money.”

Coun. Debbie Cannon, who used to work at the arts centre, said they do have other sources of funding.

“They also have funding from the BC Arts Council, they have funding from their own endowment fund,” she explained. “It's been an impressive period of growth for the art gallery. When I was there, many years ago, it was about a $100,000 budget. It's significantly more now, because it's built a lot of capacity.”

Most councillors in attendance supported the arts centre and the five-year agreement as presented however Mayor Alan Harrison proposed an amendment.

“There's some things I really like about what Christie's offered here. I think inclusion of support for the Pride Project and for the pow wow is appreciated in this contract because then we don't have to deal with it later and it can be difficult to deal with later,” he said.

“During the budget year, we're coming up to a very difficult budget, and there is no doubt that the arts centre provides a very valued service to the community … but I don't want to set an increase precedent here that might be expected throughout the budget.”

“I know the increase is small,” he added. “They're asking for a $4,262 increase, along with the contribution to pride and pow wow those I don't have any problem with; if there is a seconder my amendment would be that 2025 would be 56,000 and that 2026 would be 56,000 and then continue with 2027 using the B.C. CPI.”

Coun. Debbie Cannon agreed to second the Mayor’s amendment.

“The reason I bring forward this is not because I don't think the work there is extremely valuable, it is,” explained Mayor Harrison. “We're heading into a budget that is going to be very difficult, and I think we need to to send the message that we understand that taxpayers out there are under some duress.”

However the mayor’s amendment soon found pushback as councillors noted the arts centre is also dealing with the same increased costs as everyone else.

“We know from our own lives that everything's getting more expensive every year,” Coun. Lindgren said. “They probably are also in a position where materials and staffing prices are going up. And a $4,000 increase from last year to this year does not seem unreasonable to me,” she added.

Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond agreed with Coun. Lindgren.

“The arts community has made a dedicated effort to become not a hat in hand type of organization, but a partner, a valuable partner to the city, and I think even as $4,000 it does help to level the playing field that gives them certainty for the next four years,” she said.

“This is not a hill I'm going to die on, but I’m certainly going to try to get it to 60 and see where we land.”

Other councillors agreed that the increase was a fairly modest request.

“I hear what the mayor is saying, and as a signal to other organizations for our budget discussions, perhaps just giving this increase sends maybe the wrong message,” said Coun. Kevin Flynn. “That being said, I cannot argue when we look at the deficits our pool and arena and other recreational facilities create … to me, this has been very good money, and … I believe $60,000 is a good use of taxpayers dollars.”

The mayor’s amendment to not increase the arts centre’s funding in the first year of the five year agreement was defeated and the original motion for a five year agreement set at $60,000 in 2025 was passed unanimously.