Gail Scott, the managing director of Destination Osoyoos, requested an additional $98,000 in funding for 2015 for economic development. (Richard McGuire file photo)
The leaders of three non-profit organizations that play significant roles in attracting tens of thousands of tourists to the Town of Osoyoos each year thanked members of town council – and local taxpayers – for their longstanding financial support, stating they would not be able to function without it.
The leaders with Destination Osoyoos, the Osoyoos and District Museum and Archives and Osoyoos Desert Society all made presentations to the newly-elected council Monday night prior to a public input session, where members of town council asked local residents to provide ideas and suggestions they will consider during upcoming 2015 budget deliberations.
Because local taxpayer dollars have been used to help fund all three non-profit organizations, the new council thought it would be a good idea to have managers from all three organizations make presentations to council detailing what they do, their current financial status and plans for 2015.
Gail Scott, the managing director of Destination Osoyoos, informed the new council that the organization was founded in 1996 as a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and market tourism opportunities in Osoyoos, which has been designated as one of only 14 resort municipalities in the province by the provincial government.
Her organization received $165,000 from the town in 2014, which $88,000 of that is budgeted to tackle the organization’s new mandate to manage economic development services for the town, said Scott.
The remaining $77,000 is budgeted to provide tourism and marketing support services, she said.
A total of 33 per cent of the money provided by the town goes towards wages and benefits, while marketing takes up a full 50 per cent, she said.
Because of the organization’s expanded mandate to manage the town’s economic development department, Destination Osoyoos is asking for an additional $98,000 in funding in 2015, said Scott.
A total of $55,000 of that amount would go towards operating expenses and $43,000 towards further expansion of marketing services, she said.
The significant budget increase is needed to “meet the additional needs” her organization has been mandated to take on by council and senior administration, said Scott.
Destination Osoyoos plans on publishing an information and colourful relocation guide in 2015, aimed to attract more residents to our community as well as employees who will be hired as part of construction of the new South Okanagan Correctional Centre currently under construction just north of Oliver, she said.
They will also be engaged in ‘Buy Local Shop Local’ campaign and hope to expand services out of the visitor’s centre opened last year on Main Street adjacent to town hall, she said.
Kara Burton, the manager of the Osoyoos Museum, said the organization celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013 and looks forward to the opening of its brand new home in the current Home Hardware Building Centre in the spring of 2017.
The town currently provides $51,000 of the museum’s $107,000 operating budget and that funding is greatly appreciated and necessary to allow the museum to remain open and produce new exhibits and attractions, said Burton.
“We truly appreciate the annual grant from the town as it ensures we are able to continue to operate,” she said.
The museum board continually applies for arts grants from all levels of senior government and have been successful in obtaining numerous grants used to bring in new exhibits and expand the archives over the past several years, she said.
The board is confident it will be able to raise $1.8 million in funding needed to fund the conversion of the Home Hardware Building Centre into the new home for the museum over the next two years, said Burton.
The museum’s board made a promise it would not seek any further funding from local taxpayers to pay for the new building and that promise will be kept, she said.
The museum board would appreciate continued annual support for operating expenses in the range of $50,000 annually, she said.
Denise Eastlick, executive director of the Osoyoos Desert Society, said the organization continues to operate “on a shoestring budget” almost 25 years after being established as a non-profit organization back in 1991.
The society’s 63-acre interpretive centre attracts 8,000 to 10,000 visitors per year, while also conducting regular community workshops, school programs and educational information sharing programs with local schools and provincial post-secondary institutions, she said.
The town provides $15,000 in core funding to the society annually over the past five years and the society is thrilled that funding has become a budget line item during budget deliberations the past three years, she said.
Eliminating that funding would result in a severe cutback in programming and staff, she said.
The society will be asking council to continue providing $15,000 in core funding for 2015, she said.
Mayor Sue McKortoff thanked Scott, Burton and Eastlick for their informative and detailed presentations.
Because all three organizations benefit from taxpayer funding, she and members of council felt it was important to inform the public about each organization and why public funding is so important to their respective group, said McKortoff.
McKortoff and the new council are expected to begin deliberations on the 2015 town budget in late January or early February.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
