The District of Squamish is more than $200,000 richer as of last week.
On Friday, July 4, the provincial government announced its Small Community Grants and traffic fine revenue handouts. The local municipality received $116,689 from the Small Community Grant Program and $133,252 from the Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing Program.
The small community grant is an unconditional allocation, that allows local governments to choose what they spend it on, B.C. government caucus spokesperson Marc Wang stated in an email.
“The program is specifically earmarked for infrastructure investments, administration costs and services and programs deemed priorities by the local government,” he stated. “So where the money goes is ultimately up to the district.”
The traffic-fine revenue is redirected toward crime prevention initiatives, West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Ralph Sultan stated in a press release. The funding for the program is generated from ticket fines and court-imposed fines on violation tickets.
“We are providing local law enforcement with additional resources to keep our streets safe,” he said.
The proceeds from the grant go into general revenue and reduce the amount of tax the district would otherwise need to collect, municipal general manager of financial services Joanne Greenlees wrote in an email to the Squamish Chief.
