Seniors Groups Receive Help From Budget
They came to Council and also made a widely publicized appeal they needed financial help in order to survive and now two seniors groups, the Moose Jaw and District Senior Citizens Association and the Cosmo Senior Citizens Centre, have been thrown a financial lifeline as part of Budget 2020.
SEE RELATED - Seniors Groups Ask For City Help
Speaking at a November 18th special meeting of Council Robert Cobb, treasurer at the Cosmo Senior Citizens Centre, said the group was not looking for special consideration but were looking to be treated equal to other third party groups in City facilities.
“We want to be treated (by the City) with the same respect they do other subsidized complexes,” Cobb told Council as he explained the philosophy and the financial position of the organization.
He said the philosophy of the Cosmo was to “insure seniors in Moose Jaw and surrounding area (had an opportunity to pursue) social, cultural and physical pursuits. And no senior would be turned away because they could not afford it.”
Cobb gave examples to Council where the charge for activities might be a few dollars and not a major roadblock for some but there were seniors who cannot afford the fee. As part of the Cosmo’s philosophy they allowed those who could not afford to pay the fee to participate at no charge.
Cobb said the Cosmo was in an aging building and they had spent a lot of money recently for needed repairs and upgrades. They had spent $75,000 of their own money in the past two years to repair the roof.
“It is one of the main reasons the Cosmo is scratching to keep the doors open,” he said adding in the roof repairs there may have been the potential for grant money to assist with repairs but “you cannot wait for the grant money when you have to fix it now.”
Speaking about the opportunity to get grants for needed renovations Cobb said it is difficult for the group to come up with their share after meeting their financial obligations and the repairs they had already paid for out of their nearly depleted investments.
“When things were going great we could afford to but now we cannot afford to put $5,000 in,” he said when asked if the Cosmo knew about the City’s grant program and how there is a a matching grant available from the City.
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At a later special meeting when funding the Cosmo was discussed Councillor Scott McMann asked Administration if the Cosmo had taken advantage of matching grant opportunities from the City to help repair the building and were told no they had not.
Parks and Recreation director Derek Blais said the Cosmo has not used the grant because they were not aware the grant was available to them.
“They have not participated in the past to be honest they were not aware of this grant so we have made them aware and I am thinking we can expect some upgrades from them in the future for the cost sharing grant of 50 percent and I believe the minimum has to be $5,000,” Blais said.
During his presentation the Cobb told Council the majority of the expenditures made by the Cosmo Senior Citizens Centre were on maintenance of the building and utilities. The Cosmo annually paid $16,500 for utilities and $15,750 for maintenance of the building.
“The vast majority of it (our budget) is for repairs to the building and utilities…so hopefully you can look forward to giving us some money,” Cobb said when wrapping up his November 18th presentation.
Although no financials were presented at a public meeting by local lawyer Talon Regent, who is representing the Moose Jaw and District Seniors on a pro-bono basis, it was mentioned at the December 4th special Council meeting the group was asking for $50,000. The group has stated the need for changing the financial picture in order to stay financially afloat.
At the December 11th special Council meeting Councillor Brian Swanson moved the Cosmo Senior Citizen Center receive a grant of $15,000 and the Moose Jaw and District Seniors receive $35,000 from the 2020 Operating Budget.
The grants will add a total of 0.17 percent to property tax bills with the Cosmo grant costing property owners .05 percent and the Moose Jaw and District Seniors costing property owners 0.12.
“As I indicated previously my preference would be the grants come from existing expenditures. I don’t think that is going to carry the day but that would have been my preference…it does not however negate the value of providing this money,” Councillor Swanson said.
Councillor Chris Warren spoke in favour of the funding and praised the two groups for doing things for so long on their own without any City tax funding.
“As we looked more into our third party funding to organizations that are either operating in City facilities or doing more work on behalf of the City the majority of groups that were in City facilities had received operating grants, maintenance from the City…for whatever reason these two seniors groups have operated on their own in City facilities without any funding from the City…the fact we heavily finance other third party groups operating in City facilities and not this one was a concern for myself,” Councillor Warren stated.
Both motions passed unanimously with the Cosmo Senior Citizens Center receiving $15,000 and the Moose Jaw and District Seniors receiving $35,000.
The grants will show up on the 2021 Budget as well as other third party groups and the final decision on the funding level, if any, is at the Council of the day’s discretion.
Both groups receive funding through Sask Lotteries Community Grant Program which is administered by the City. Out of the $132,431 the program provided in 2018 there is 30 percent earmarked for seniors, indigenous people, persons with disabilities, women, single parent families, etc.
The City has a policy whereby 30 percent of that portion of the Lotteries Grant is dedicated to the Moose Jaw and District Seniors Association and Cosmo Senior Citizens Centre based upon their respective memberships. In 2018 Moose Jaw and District Seniors received $20,065.30 and the Cosmo Senior Citizens Centre received $6,420.90.
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