Almost a year ago, Ward 5 Councillor Arnold Huffman had asked the Community Services Advisory Committee (CSAC) to review possible changes to the Milton Community Fund to allow for a special category to be set up specifically for Milton based service groups like the Optimist Club, Rotary Club and Royal Canadian Legion to name a few.

This option was reviewed by the CSAC members (of which both Arnold and I are council representatives for) and the report was returned to council with the recommendation that it not move forward.  Before the report from CSAC could be voted on by council, a motion to defer and send it back was moved and passed.  This allowed CSAC to review it again along with additional feedback from area service groups with the result being the same.

This means the $100,000 will be put back into the Community Fund for 2012.  This amount for the last few years had been allocated to fund the construction of the Milton Centre for the Arts and once that was completed, it was to be directed back into available funds for allocations by CSAC.  During the 2011 budget process, Arnold made the motion to have CSAC review the special allocation in the fund for service clubs and over a year later the matter has been resolved.

The 2011 Community Fund allocations this past year actually ran out as there were so many qualified applicants.  As Milton grows and if the Community Fund is to be successful we need to make sure that there is enough money in the fund for future needs.  Funding for the CF comes from the slot revenues from OLG and not from your tax bill.  With the CSAC motion approved by Milton Council, the $100,000 will be available for all members of the community through the fund.  When the 2012 guidelines have been approved by council later this month, I will post a link so people can apply if needed.

Here is a brief history of the Community Fund.

For some background information you can check out Champion coverage hereAlso, here is a report from the Milton Canadian Champion.

Service groups denied – Council votes against matching program from Milton’s Community Fund

Councillors have voted not to allocate $100,000 from Milton’s Community Fund specifically to service groups.

Without discussion on Monday night, council approved a staff report that recommended against a new matching program to help service clubs fund Milton-based projects.

Ward 5 Councillor Arnold Huffman asked staff to investigate the feasibility of the program in early 2011. At the time, he said the matching program would help fundraising initiatives for new projects and possibly increase membership levels. Huffman was absent from Monday’s meeting.

Twice, the Community Services Advisory Committee (CSAC) — the committee that reviews the community fund allocations — voted against the matching program. One of the meetings took place in late January and members of Milton Council were not permitted to attend as to not influence other CSAC members.

Close to $290,000 from the 2011 Milton Community fund was distributed to individuals and groups in town.

The 2012 program will see $350,000 distributed.

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