Community support versus peers

How the peer benchmarks were calculated

The nine comparator communities: Courtenay, Langford, Langley (City), Mission, North Cowichan, Penticton, Port Moody, Vernon, West Kelowna.

• This is the comparison used in the November 2024 policy review, not a claim about today's funding. Campbell River's 2024 amounts are compared with the City's inflation-adjusted benchmarks drawn from 2023 peer reports.
• For grants and municipal exemptions, staff excluded the highest and lowest of nine comparator communities before adjusting the remaining average for inflation. Different communities were excluded in each category. These are adjusted peer benchmarks, not the unadjusted average of all nine communities.
• The grant benchmark includes comparable funding within municipal base budgets as well as grants. It is broader than the SOFI grant-payment series shown in the grant-history card.
• The approximately $720,000 Campbell River tax-exemption figure comes from the report's executive summary. The separate full-package financial summary uses $668,000. They are different snapshots and are not combined here.
• All amounts are annual totals, not per-resident amounts. Programs and regional funding arrangements differ. Staff noted that some peers near larger cities benefit from services provided in neighbouring communities.
• The combined row adds the grants and exemptions above, including their separately adjusted benchmarks. It is a derived comparison, not a separately reported peer average.
• Arts funding is part of grants, not extra support to add to the other rows. The $660,000 is the six local payments listed below from pages 57 and 58. The $402,669 is the separate reported average on page 56, which accounts for regional delivery of Vernon-area arts services. It does not use the same trimming and inflation adjustment as the first two categories.
• Percentages use (Campbell River amount / peer benchmark - 1) × 100, rounded to whole percentages. All three chart categories share a zero-to-$1 million scale. The table gives exact values, including the combined grants and exemptions calculation.
• No comparable all-in peer totals were available for below-market leases and facilities. These benchmarks cannot be compared directly with the separate $2.87 million adopted support framework. Higher support alone does not establish better services or value.

Campbell River arts and culture payments

Campbell River Museum

$246,500

Haig-Brown House

$51,000

Public Art Gallery

$80,000

Community Arts Council

$35,000

Maritime Heritage Centre

$40,000

Tidemark Theatre

$207,500

These six payments total $660,000. Lease, maintenance and tax-exemption values are excluded.