Agenda of Finance Policy Committee

Finance Policy Committee 2 October 2018

2.1 Requests for Financial Assistance

RECORD NUMBER: 2018/2418

AUTHOR: Mark Burdack, Director Corporate and Commercial Services

EXECUTIVE Summary

Council can only assist other organisations financially (in cash or in kind) in accordance with section 356 of the Local Government Act 1993.

Council has in place a policy for donations to be made under section 356 of the Act and annually advertises for applications under this policy. Additional applications are received during the year. This report provides the most recently received requests.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “15.2 Collaborate - Support community organisations and groups to deliver services and programs”.

Financial Implications

The overall donations/sponsorship budget for 2018/19 is as follows:

Program	Adopted Budget	Actual/ committed	Remaining balance
General Donations ¹	$55,000.00	$53,907.61	$1,092.39
Wood and Heating Bank Vouchers	$5,000.00	$5,000.00	$0.00
Major Promotions ²	$45,500.00	$44,000.00	$1,500.00
Emergent Funding - $5,000 per quarter ³	$20,000.00	$5,000.00	$15,000.00
Orange Harness Racing	$20,000.00	$20,000.00	$0.00
Waratah’s Sporting Club contribution	$96,354.00	$96,354.00	$0.00
Sports participants grants	$13,900.00	$4,041.00	$9,859.00
Sports capital improvements grants	$50,000.00	$50,000.00	$0.00
TOTAL	$305,754.00	$270,668.71	$27,451.39

1 Includes School Prize Giving allocation (remaining balance being $3,800.00). $5,000 has been transferred out of general donations to fund the wood and heating bank vouchers program.

2 Includes $10,000.00 from City Events and $2,500.00 from Economic Development. In August 2018, an amount of $1,500.00 has been returned to Major Promotions. The Rotary Club of Orange Daybreak will not now be holding its Classic Wines and Cars Expo in 2018 as the event will now be a biennial event and the next one will be in late 2019.

3 Emergent funding is allocated as $5,000.000 per quarter in the financial year. Each quarter starts at 1 July, 1 October, 1 January and 1 April. The first quarter for current financial year has been fully expended.

Process for applications of the remaining budget allocation

A Council resolution is required to allocate funds to any external entity, including as a donation.

Applications are considered against the criteria outlined in the donations policies. There is an application form that should be submitted to commence the process of making a donation to another entity. The form contains details to inform Council that the donation aligns with the intentions the Council has established in the Community Strategic Plan.

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

The Council resolves:

1 That the request for financial assistance from Netball NSW be declined.

2 That a donation of $500.00 be made from the Sports Participant Program to Kira-Lea Dargin for selection in the New York Sharks American football team.

3 That the request for financial assistance from the Orange Waratah Sports Club be deferred and a report provided to Council.

4 That a donation of $5,000.00 ($1,500.00 from Major Events and $3,500.00 from the Sporting Event Attraction program) be made to the Bicycle Network for the Newcrest Orange Challenge 2019.

5 That a donation of $100.00 be made from the Sports Participant Program to Ella Cubbin for attendance at the NSW State Football Titles as a member of the Under-14 Girls' Western NSW Football/Country Western team.

6 That a donation of $2,000.00 be made from Emergent Funding to Robert Bartlett for Book Publication - "Orange and District - A History in Pictures No 2".

7 That a donation of $517.00 be made from General Donations to the Orange Camera Club Inc for Permanent Installation of a Projector in Orange Senior Citizens' Meeting Rooms.

further considerations

Consideration has been given to the recommendation’s impact on Council’s service delivery; image and reputation; political; environmental; health and safety; employees; stakeholders and project management; and no further implications or risks have been identified.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

In considering these five requests for financial assistance, Council has $1,092.39 remaining in General Donations, $1,500.00 remaining in Major Promotions and $5,000.00 in the second quarter allocation of Emergent Funding. This totals $7,592.39.

1	Applicant	Netball NSW
	Not for Profit	Yes
	Academy Challenge Three-day netball tournament co-hosted by the Western Region Academy of Sport.
	Donation Request $1,000.00 cash
	Policy Category General Donations - event seed funding
	Policy Status Given that Council will be providing financial assistance for this event through its Sporting Event Attraction program, it is recommended that no further funding be provided.

2	Applicant	Kira-Lea Dargin
	Not for Profit	Yes
	New York Sharks Selected to play American football in the United States.
	Donation Request $500.00
	Policy Category Sports Participation - individual in a National team
	Policy Status The applicant is not technically representing Australia. It is recommended that this request be approved. Although the applicant is not representing Australia, the competition that she has been selected to play in is at an International elite level. The applicant will be given some funding from the New York Sharks via her playing contract, however, it would only be minor and the costs to travel to the United States and to establish herself in New York would be considerable.

3	Applicant	Orange Waratah Sports Club
	Not for Profit	Yes
	In-kind Donation of Existing Concrete Poles (up to six) Additional lighting is needed for training and sports matches.
	Donation Request $Value of six 21m concrete poles (yet to be determined)
	Policy Category General Donations - Miscellaneous (Equipment Purchase)
	Policy Status · Eligibility - the applicant has received substantial financial assistance for maintenance over several years and this assistance will be ongoing for several more years. In this current year, this donation is $96,354.00. The applicant is ineligible for further funding under the Policy. · Practicality - The poles have a long potential life but need to be evaluated for functionality and safety. Prior to any consideration of divestment, an evaluation also needs to be undertaken of the potential alternative uses of the poles (e.g. cut down and used for culvert pipes) and the value to the Council and ratepayers in order to calculate the cost of a donation. · Equity – the poles have not been evaluated for future use and have not been advertised as available for sale or gifting to the public. It would be unfair to other community organisations to divest these assets without a public process.

4	Applicant	Bicycle Network
	Not for Profit	Yes
	2019 Newcrest Orange Challenge It is expected that this event will bring 1,500 participants into our LGA, with 85% of these participants coming from intrastate and from interstate. The start/finish will be at Robertson Park.
	Donation Request $15,000.00
	Policy Category Major Events - Large Event.
	Policy Status · Ineligible - applicant is from outside the LGA. · It is considered, however, that the applicant becomes eligible due to the direct economic benefit that will come to Orange from the event. · Large-sized events are restricted to one event per year and the donation under this category has already been given. · It is recommended that the remaining balance of Major Events, $1,500.00, be donated for this event and that $3,500.00 be donated from the Sporting Event Attraction program.

5	Applicant	Ella Cubbin
	Not for Profit	Yes
	Under-14 Girls' Western NSW Football/Country Western team To play in the 2018 State titles.
	Donation Request $100.00
	Policy Category Sport Participant Program - individual in a regional team
	Policy Status Eligible.

6	Applicant	Robert Bartlett
	Not for Profit	Yes
	Book Publication - "Orange and District - A History in Pictures No 2" This is an update of the 1994 book of the same title. The applicant will not profit from this book. He undertakes this project as a service to the City.
	Donation Request $5,000.00
	Policy Category General Donations - Miscellaneous (Projects) - maximum $2,000.00. No weighting applies as the applicant has not received a donation in the last four years. The money will be sourced from Emergent Funding as the balance of the General Donations is insufficient to cover this donation.
	Policy Status Eligible

7	Applicant	Orange Camera Club Inc
	Not for Profit	Yes
	Permanent Installation of a Projector in Orange Senior Citizens' Meeting Room The projector will not just be for the Club's use. It will also be made available to other groups. The reason for the permanent installation is the physical difficulty of transporting the project to and from the meeting room.
	Donation Request $517.00
	Policy Category General Donations - Miscellaneous (Equipment Purchase). This amount (being less than 75% of the $2,000 category maximum) does not attract weighting. This applicant has also not received a donation in the last four years.
	Policy Status Eligible