Special Event Permit Fee Assistance Procedure

Purpose statement

The Town of Oakville Parks and Open Space and Recreation and Culture departments provide special event permit fee assistance to eligible community groups for specific special events that benefit the community at large.

Scope

This procedure provides eligible community groups a fee assistance program for approved special event permits that use town operated facilities and or services through the Parks and Open Space and Recreation and Culture departments.

Procedure

1. The amount of fee assistance funds available will be determined in the annual budget as an internal grant amount that will be provided to groups in the form of reduced town user permit fees.
2. Applications and letters will be forwarded, to groups who have received fee assistance in the previous year or groups who have expressed an interest in receiving fee assistance, advising of the current budget approved rate of fee assistance. In general, application letters will be mailed to groups in the fall of the preceding year, contingent on the budget timeline.
3. Completed applications shall be returned to the Supervisor, Permitting & Scheduling. In general, applications will be considered by mid-December of the preceding year, the date of which will be stated in the application mailing. Any late applications will be reviewed after all qualifying applications have been reviewed, subject to fund availability.
4. All groups and events must meet the following criteria to be considered for the program:
   • The group’s base of operation must be in Oakville.
   • The group must be a non-profit organization and operate under the authority of a volunteer board, committee, or individual that is elected or appointed by the general membership or group. Where individuals are planning an event not in association with a recognized non-profit organization, the individual must provide sufficient information as directed by the department to prove ability to operate such an event.
   • No member of the group can benefit financially as a result of the event.
   • The group must be able to demonstrate that it can meet the financial obligations of the event.
   • The event must be recreational in nature.
   • The event can be deemed to be of significant local/regional/provincial/national interest.
   • Proceeds from the event can be proven to benefit a recognized portion of the community or the entire Oakville community.
   • The event must be open to members of the public.
   • Any sponsorship recognition must include the Corporation of the Town of Oakville, Parks and Open Space department.
   • The event must occur in a town owned or operated facility, park or make use of Parks services within the boundaries of the Town of Oakville.
   • Fees eligible for the special event fee assistance program are those included in the Town Rates and Fees document.
   • Subsidies cannot be combined with any other discounts on rates.
   • Interest charges, service charges, or fees where the town incurs direct costs or collects funds on behalf of other organizations are not included.
5. Staff will apply available funds to all eligible groups equally on a percentage of each user fee. The rate of fee assistance will be determined by totalling all the eligible fee assistance requests, and dividing the amount into the amount of fee assistance funds available. The maximum rate of funding shall not exceed 100 per cent of the requested funds.
6. Applications requesting fee assistance that exceed 20 per cent of the total fee assistance program shall be referred to Council for direct consideration and funding will be provided in accordance with Council direction.
7. All approved requests for facility or service use will be issued in the form of a facility permit, conditions of which must be agreed and adhered to by the fee assistance applicant.
8. A report will be submitted to Finance Planning department detailing the user groups, events and amount of the fee assistance provided. This report will be prepared once the applications have been received and the rate of subsidy determined and will be updated regularly.
9. Should a group’s funding requirements change for an event, the group will be required to submit the request in writing.
10. Upon request of the town, a group must disclose financial records of an event and be able to demonstrate that the events objectives have been met. Groups shall keep financial records for town use for a minimum of one year.

Appeals process

Groups who are denied fee assistance may appeal the decision to the Director of Parks and Open Space department and will be provided with an opportunity to appear before Council to receive consideration of their fee assistance request.

Responsibilities

The Parks and Open Space, and Recreation and Culture departments are responsible for maintaining this procedure.

The Finance and Parks and Open Space departments shall follow the applicable finance procedures to show the expense and revenue amounts allocated through the special event fee assistance program