The City of Grand Forks and its city council decided to rescind its grant-in-aid policy – where it grants money to groups in the community – at a meeting on April 2.
While a number of groups in the city depend on the funding, it is the right thing to do.
It’s not easy being a city councillor or even a member of city staff as every move is scrutinized and councillors likely feel like they can do no right but the fact of the matter is, the City of Grand Forks is a corporation, a business, not a charity and it has to be fiscally responsible.
Yes, it can look out for the best interests of its residents but not at the cost of its bottom line.
Understandably, there are a number of groups in the area, some non-profit, with little other way of finding money but the list is long and the amount of money finite – times are tough but the money that is handed out is taxpayer money.
As some councillors rightly stated, it’s difficult to say “yes” to one groups request while saying “no” to another.
If council approves one group’s request and not the request of a similar group, that really isn’t fair and can lead to some ill will.
Just last year, councillors said that there were over $300,000 in requests for grant-in-aid, which is a large amount of money and obviously, the city had to say no to everyone that had put in a request, as it neither had the financial wherewithal nor would it be right or fair for it to pick and choose.
The city isn’t completely turning its back on providing grants altogether as city staff are currently looking into other options and will bring those to the table at a future council meeting.
Whatever the options are, they should take into account that the city doesn’t have an endless supply of money and it should be fair to all as well.
There are other organizations that help provide funding besides the city and hopefully they will be able to assist groups that are in need.
– Grand Forks Gazette