Dauphin will head into the New Year with the issue of recreation funding remaining unsettled after City council rejected a recent funding proposal from their counterparts in the Rural Municipality.
The RM forwarded the proposal to the City on Dec. 11 and rejected the plan at a meeting, Dec. 13, and informed their rural counterparts by way of a letter.
In part the letter read, “City council reviewed the RM joint services proposal dated Dec. 11, at a meeting held on Dec. 13. After very thorough review and discussion the city council agreed unanimously that it could not accept the proposal as presented. As indicated in your letter, for 2025 the City of Dauphin chooses to revert to the RM of Dauphin’s July 23 resolution. As Dauphin Recreation Services organizes to reflect the situation, please be advised that RM participation in the DRS board for 2025 remains unchanged. It is our intent to continue a dialogue with your council to find a long-term solution for DRS funding. The city looks forward to meeting with the RM soon to resume our liaison community meetings as there are many topics we can discuss that affect and benefit both of our municipalities including, your suggestion of proportional funding for other RM and City agreements.”
RM of Dauphin reeve Ernie Sirski said his council is extremely disappointed with the City’s decision to reject the proposal put forward.
“After only having it in their possession for two days,” he said.
“How serious of a discussion did they have in that short period of time? The RM council and management spent untold hours on the project, after the City’s request for the RM to submit a proposal. The RM proposed a structure that would have the City and RM be true partners in recreation and we are disappointed that the City rejected this concept so quickly.”
On the financial side, the RM proposal called for joint operating to be shared on a per capita basis, adjusted annually.
Additionally, the proposal called for capital cost to also be funded jointly on a per capita basis with the annual maximum contribution from the RM capped at $50,000.
Finally, the proposal called for the RM to receive a per capita share of the recreation portion of Dauphin’s Accommodation Tax.
The financial details of the proposal are materially the same as what the City was asking for from the RM, said mayor David Bosiak. Where city councillors have trouble supporting the proposal, he added, is around the RM’s vision of the board structure.
According to the RM proposal, while Dauphin Recreation Services will continue to operate as a separate agency, the RM plan proposes the current DRS board be disbanded and replaced by a new board made up of two elected officials each from the City and RM, who will be voting members, as well as the city manager and the RM CAO, who will sit as non-voting members. Any motions that result in a tied vote would be defeated.
“Basically they want to dismantle the recreation commission without any reflection that we have a 75-year agreement with the Ag. Society that we’re still in on and we still view them as a partner,” Bosiak said, adding the make up of the board does not reflect the funding realities and was also a sticking point for councillors.
“We’ve told them that their involvement needs to be proportional to their funding amount and to me that makes perfect sense. If you’re funding an organization 22 per cent you should have 22 per cent of the influence, or the say on that board or that body.”
For Sirski, the issue boils down to forming a “true partnership” with the City when it comes to recreation for citizens of both municipalities.
Read the full story in this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.
