[BCMA] tax-based funding for small museums

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv]

Yes, we did - back in 1996, and like Lee's, the referendum part was a
challenge but since then it's all been easy. There's no annual application
and our annual increases, if they're in line with the consumer price index,
are approved with no fuss. Back in 2016, we approached them for a more
significant increase - we had been at roughly $91,000 since 1998 with no
increases at all, and by demonstrating the massive increase in the scope of
our operations since then we were able to easily justify a one-time boost
of about $22,000 with annual increases since then. This year, we're
receiving $123,156. That's roughly evenly divided - not quite one-third
from each of the Town of Creston and RDCK Areas B andC, with a small amount
coming from the southern part of RDCK Area A.

Our level of funding was based on a mill rate of $0.14 per $1,000 assessed
value, which was increased in 2016 to $0.15. I wasn't involved in the
original referendum itself, but I believe the board of the Museum
determined what level of funding was needed to hire a staff person (me) and
cover the utility costs, and the RDCK financial wizards figured out the
mill rate. The referendum required a five-year plan (which was pretty
informal and focused mostly on building plans) and some kind of
justification for why the Town/RDCK should be in the business of funding
museums (which was basically "we're an important tourist attraction and we
can't keep the doors open otherwise"). When we went for the one-mill
increase in 2016, we made a point of emphasising our community involvement
and engagement first! It made for a much stronger presentation (I still
have it and will happily share it if you send me your private email).

We are operated by a Historical Society and we own our property and
buildings, and it's expected that we do minor and major maintenance on it
with the funding we receive - unlike many municipally operated museums, if
the roof starts to leak it's our problem; we can't just call up town works
department and tell them their roof is leaking (though they are awesome to
deal with and have helped us out in a couple of emergencies). When the
referendum passed, we were told we would no longer be eligible for property
tax exemptions - but that seems to have been forgotten and we still get
invited to apply for them every three years; we get a 90% exemption, which
represents a budget benefit of several thousand dollars per year. Needless
to say, I am not questioning it or reminding anyone at Town Hall of a vague
rumour from two and a half decades ago! :)

Our tax funding of course carries certain obligations. For example, we got
it in the first place by saying it would let us keep the doors open for
regular hours year-round - so that's what we have to do; and we can never
decide not to work with a vast array of community partners because that's
why we got the increase six years ago (I can't imagine that we would make
that decision, because it's just such a right thing to do, but it's not
always easy!). And there's an unspoken expectation that when Town or RDCK
needs a heritage perspective on a planning committee or something, we will
step up. Again - good things for a museum to be involved in, but can mean
one or two staff people get pulled in a lot of different directions.

Hope this helps! If you want to chat further, give me a shout -
tammy at crestonmuseum.ca or 250-428-9262.

Tammy

On Fri, Jul 8, 2022 at 11:15 AM Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv <
listserv at lists.museum.bc.ca> wrote:

> We get funding from the regional district. We did it by going to
> referendum.
> Over the years we have had three referendums, with the last one in 2008
> where 83% of the voters supported an increase to their property taxes to
> provide us with funding. About 10 years ago, the regional district passed a
> bylaw that allows them to provide annual increases without having to go
> back
> to referendum. We send in our budget request each year, and as long as it
> fits within their budget increase guidelines, it get approved (typically
> 2%). This year we get $215,000. We also have a negotiated contract with the
> District of Sooke specifically to fund the visitor centre portion of our
> operations, we do a five year contract with them that outlines what
> services
> we will provide them.
>
> Creston has also gone the referendum route.
>
> Cheers
> Lee Boyko
> Sooke Region Museum
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Listserv <listserv-bounces at lists.museum.bc.ca> On Behalf Of
> Moderated
> BCMA subscriber listserv
> Sent: Thursday, July 7, 2022 1:04 PM
> To: Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv <listserv at lists.museum.bc.ca>
> Subject: [BCMA] tax-based funding for small museums
>
> What small museums been successful in securing some annual and predictable
> tax-based funding? If you represent one such museum, what level of funding
> do you receive? What criteria were used in your case to determine this
> level
> of funding? Thanks for your help!
>
> --
> Peter Jonker
> Lardeau Valley Historical Society, President
>
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