Yorkton business improvement committee requests funding increase for city projects

Yorkton, Sask. -

Yorkton’s Business Improvement District (YBID) has asked their city council for an additional $20,000 in funding to help with ongoing projects.

“I have to credit the people of the day who created the YBID because it does such good things in the community,” Donna Brothwell, executive director of YBID, expressed.

“They had such great foresight to be able to see what could be done with just a little bit of money going back into the community, to help businesses downtown, to help get footsteps in their brick and mortar buildings.”

YBID first started in 2004 and has been responsible for beautifying Yorkton’s business district, along with bringing the community together, and encouraging people to shop locally.

Currently, their funding generates from a business levy, bringing in $118,000 per year, in addition to a $100,000 grant provided by the City of Yorkton. The committee also applies for provincial grants and bursaries to help cover their overall costs for major city projects, including annual events such as the Santa Claus parade and June Days.

"If you step outside your business door, you'll see the YBID everywhere you go. You don't necessarily know it's a YBID project, but it is,” Brothwell added, referring to smaller projects YBID has contributed to over the years.

“When we do June Days, there’s 500 people every Thursday night in the park. That brings people downtown. Your store might not be open, but people will see it. One of the key things YBID is known for is our flower pot program, there are 300 great big flower pots that go out every year.”

Other projects YBID has contributed to over the years are the street signs and lights located along Broadway Street, resting points which include benches and recycling bins, as well as the Dracup Avenue Pedestrian Walking Bridge, a $450,000 project that extended the city’s existing pathway.

After presenting their request to council Monday evening, the city stated they would review increasing YBID’s grant to $120,000 per year when planning for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

“We’ve referred it to administration because we need to get outside information and make sure we’re making good decisions because this is tax money, ultimately,” Mayor Mitch Hippsley explained.

“We are really grateful to have YBID because what YBID is all about is, we give the authority to a group of people that are volunteers and they have the ability to recognize what is needed in downtown, and they cut through the red tape sort of speak, and they make decisions as a committee."

Hippsley added that because the committee has not received an increase in funding since 2012, council will be working to see if something can be done prior to budgeting season.

"We are gong to look for it now just to see if it's money that is available because we don't want to squash some of the programs,” he said. “We recognize the importance of them.”

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YBID has a board of 11 volunteers that is made up of local business owners and one part-time paid employee.

“We rely on our partners a lot,” Brothwell told CTV News. “For example, SaskAbilities who does our clean sweep program, Prairie Harvest Employment Program who cares for our flower pots, Young Plant World who grows our pots, we have our own greenhouse out there, SIGN with the mobility car. Our hands are in so many different pots, not collecting, but giving.”

YBID’s next event will be June Days which will be happening every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. next month. Brothwell said it costs the committee roughly $30,000 to put on the event every year.

“We’ll be doing a food area in the parking area of York City Plaza, our food trucks will be there with chairs and tables,” she explained.

“All of the businesses will be coming out right in front of their business, how could you not love that. Then in the park it’s all of the exciting cultures.”

The community culture event highlights different ethnic groups’ food and entertainment, such as Indigenous peoples, Jamaican, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indian, Ukrainian, Nigerian and Canadian.

Brothwell said more details about the event will be posted on their social media and website closer to the date.