The Tumbler Ridge Youth Services Society (TRYSS) was forced to close on April 4 and 5 after their financials got lost at town hall.
While a note was sent to the teen centre board on April 3 to say the 2023 financials hadn’t arrived, by the time the group was able to respond, the item had already gone before council, who deferred a decision on the matter until the information had been provided.
However, according to TRYSS employee Dawn Wagner, the financials were sent to town hall on March 1, but weren’t passed on to council for their deliberations on April 4. “It was reported publicly at the April 4 town council meeting, that the 2023 financials from TRYSS had not been received,” says Wagner. “Given this erroneous information, Council voted to defer further discussion of our Fee For Service (FFS) application until this Policy requirement was satisfied. As a matter of record, the 2023 Financials were sent to the Finance Department (and received) March 1, and TRYSS staff confirmed this with staff at Town Hall on March 6. Therefore, Town Council had a month to review the Financials in preparation for the April 4 discussion.”
Wagner says the reason TRYSS was in this situation is because the organization is financially responsible. “TRYSS has always been, a financially responsible organization. In 2013, a surplus of $2,438.54 from 2012 was returned to the DOTR, as per District Policy, and no funds were requested in 2015. The 2016–2018 FFS funds of $46,000.00/year were stretched to cover 2019, lowering the costs to the district, and by extension, the taxpayer.”
The same thing happened with the most recent FFS grant. “The 2020–2022 FFS monies included 2020, which of course involved the Covid shutdown of the Youth Centre for eight months. When town hall was contacted, TRYSS was advised to continue filing quarterly financial reports and collecting FFS funds. However, given the substantial surplus that resulted, TRYSS opted not to apply for operational monies for 2023, knowing this might create an issue by the second quarter of 2024, if council did not complete budget deliberations.
“This potential issue was brought to council’s attention August 14, when TRYSS went before council for an update of its progress. The FFS application was subsequently submitted on the January 12, 2024 due date, with arrangements made for the financials to follow. As stated above, these reports were submitted March 1.”
Last month, TRYSS submitted a letter saying they would not have enough money to make it to May, when the budget is expected to pass, and requested a pre-approval of their first quarter funding.
This request was brought before council, but, as the discussion of FFS and grant in aid was coming up on April 4, the decision was held off until then.
However, the financials got lost and, with no funding in place, the TRYSS board decided to close the centre until funding was secured.
“All the money we have in our account—about $2000—is earmarked for the government,” said board president Trent Ernst. “While there is a good chance council will approve our funding, it would be fiscally irresponsible to operate in a deficit, especially if funding is not approved.”
Wagner points out that the youth centre works hard to be good stewards of funding “By stretching out the money from the 2020-2022 FFS to cover 2023, yearly costs were lowered from $43,000.00 to $32,250.00, while continuing to provide excellent service to the youth of Tumbler Ridge. And the proposed budget in our 2024–2026 FFS application requests lower amounts than the 2020-2022 contract for the first two years, with slightly more in the third year, accounting for rising costs. This budget was carefully considered to include top-up funds for the South Peace Mackenzie Trust (SPMT) grant applied for, in order to operate a Teen Job Mart during the Summer months.”
Wagner says the Youth Centre going away, even for a couple days, means not being there for the teens that show up on a daily basis. “There were 388 visits to the Youth Centre in January, 345 in February and 393 in March. Getting 20–30 kids in a day is a regular occurrence.”
The Youth Centre is open an average of 240 days per year, and has so far been visited by 178 different youth. “So far in 2024, there have been many special activities through the Centre, including: Pizza, PJs and Punch Party on January 6, the Winter Carnival BINGO on January 26, four nights of Dungeons & Dragons in January, Valentine’s treats on February 14, movie nights on February 23 (The Amazing Maurice) and March 22 (The Marvels) in Room 5, St. Patrick’s Day Party on March16, free BINGO on March 20 & 27, rock wall climbing March 21 & 28, and an Easter Treats Hunton March 30,” says Wagner. “Regular activities continued throughout the quarter including piano lessons, pool playing instruction, resume writing assistance, first aid administration, lending of equipment (basketball & volleyball), watching movies, active video games, puzzle construction, ping pong, foosball, board games, student training in concession and students volunteering to meet school requirements and for movie nights.”
Moving forward, TRYSS is working on setting up a Teen Job Mart over summer.
The item returned for a special meeting on April 8, where it was again discussed.
Mayor Krakowka apologized for the email being missed, and having the item put on hold. “I understand we did have their financials by email, and I apologize that it got missed.” Moving forward, he says, the District will work towards resolving issues like this.
The meeting kicked off with Councillor Gulick. “While I support the Tumbler Ridge Youth Services Society, I am not in favour of this amount. They are open less and operate for less money than the senior’s centre. When the original ask came out, it was to do more activities in the community, and I’ve not seen that. They’ve not looked for any other grant applications. This is another one we can tighten our belts on.”
Councillor Noksana says: “I struggle a bit with the youth centre. If you go on their Facebook page, there’s maybe a post a month. When my child does go, it doesn’t seem very well attended. Often just a few kids. I’m not sure the 20 kids number is accurate.”
My biggest point in all of this was that funding was supposed to be for more events. I don’t see that. For me it’s the extra money was given for different outing. Part of it was to do the movies. So for me it’s about saying if you want to do extra things, let’s see that happen. Look for some grant money. We expect that from other non-profits. We don’t see it here. At this point in time, I’m not prepared to support this.”
“I don’t remember adding more money for more events,” says Mayor Krakowka. “My understanding is that right now the youth centre is not operating because they have no funding. I don’t like seeing the teen centre closed.”
The meeting went on, but honestly, as board chair for TRYSS, I don’t really want to go back and revisit it again. In the end, council approved a year’s worth of funding, with the proviso that TRYSS come and talk with council to discuss how to get more kids to show up.
The centre re-opened on Tuesday.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.