Community Board Local Discretionary Fund

Local Discretionary Funds are allocated by community boards for projects within their ward and to encourage non-profit making or charitable groups to develop and deliver services, facilities, amenities, or programmes for the benefit of their community.

A maximum allocation guideline of 50% of each community boards’ annual distribution amount can be committed to community board identified projects. A Community Board can exceed the maximum allocation guideline through a majority resolution at the Mayor and Chairs Forum.

Considerations

Each application will be considered against its alignment to the purpose of Local Government as well as the extent to which the project meets the funding criteria.

What we may fund. Community services, facilities, amenities, or programmes for:

• Recreation and sport
• Entertainment and amusement
• Culture and arts
• The general benefit of the community

What we won’t normally fund:

• Travel costs
• Gifts
• Conference attendance
• Food and catering costs
• Rates relief
• Applications from Regional Sporting Organisations (RSOs)
• Applications from other Government Departments
• Retrospective funding

Requirements

• There is a strong preference that the applicant attends a Board meeting to present their application. If unable to do this, the applicant is required to meet with the chair of the community board to discuss the application prior to a decision being made on the application.
• Successful applicants are required to provide a written or verbal report upon completion of their project (if preferred to make a verbal report, this is to be via attendance at appropriate Community Board meeting).
• Applicants must acknowledge Council’s contribution in any promotional or publicity of the project, event etc.

Funding Rounds

There are up to eight rounds of Community Boards’ discretionary funding per year. Applications are accepted throughout the year and considered at the Community Board meeting following receipt of the application. Closing dates for each round are listed on the application forms.

District Wide Projects

Organisations undertaking a project that has a District wide impact can request funding from all four community boards through the completion of one application form. Recommendations on District wide applications will be made quarterly via the Mayor and Chairs forum and final decisions will be made at the next round of Community Board meetings.

Chair’s Discretionary Fund

The Community Board Chairpersons, or their nominees, are authorised to approve grants qualifying for Local Discretionary Funding of up to $250 (Chair’s Discretion). The total amount of the fund able to be distributed through the Chair’s Discretion is $3,000 per annum, per community board.

Unallocated Funding

Within a triennium, any funding unallocated by a Board at the end of the financial year will be carried over and added to the next years’ distribution amount. Any funding that is unallocated at the end of a triennium will not be carried over.