City council is being asked to approve an amendment to the operating budget to accept a $37,940 contribution to support the planned Graffiti Management Program.

The contribution was made by the Crime Prevention and Victim Services Trust Fund, says the administrative report prepared for council’s meeting Monday.

“The funding will help facilitate the removal of graffiti on public and private property within the city, with a focus on the downtown area,” says the report presented by Melodie Simard, the city’s manager of planning.

“Further, the funding will help support other components of the planned 2023 Graffiti Management Program, including working towards the creation of a new ‘legal art program’ promoting graffiti art in key locations.”

Council is scheduled to vote on the budget amendment at its meeting this coming Monday.

The city is also scheduled to vote on proposed amendments to city’s Graffiti Management Policy.

The amended policy identifies four zones: zone one requires removal of graffiti within one business day; zone two requires removal within three business days; zone three requires removal within five business days; the exception zone contains city-owned buildings where graffiti is allowed and not removed.

The financial contribution is intended to cover the cost of two full-time city staff for June, July and August to support the implementation of the management program.

The trust fund provides funding to community-based initiatives aiming to alleviate incidences of criminality, says the report. It notes graffiti is considered vandalism under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Coun. Dan Boyd said enforcement of city policies that prohibit graffiti is key to discouraging taggers from defacing property.

It’s important, he said, that taggers be prosecuted to get the message out that graffiti is not acceptable, and is a criminal offence.

Boyd said he would also like to see language in the policy that encourages the RCMP to help manage the problem of tagging.

Krista Mroz, the city’s director of community services, told Boyd the city does work with the RCMP on the issue of graffiti.

What would be desirable, she said, is to have community members help out by reporting acts of graffiti when they see them.

There have only been four reports of tagging received this year, she said.

Mayor Laura Cabott said the city has a graffiti problem – and it continues to grow.

Graffiti damages private property that people have invested a lot of money in. People take pride in their properties, she said.

Graffiti, she suggested, detracts from that pride.

“The city just starts to look unloved; it starts to look like the city has lots of crime. I don’t think that is the case,” the mayor said.

Cabott said she believes the city needs to do as much as it can to discourage graffiti.

While there have been four reports this year, she said, there are hundreds and hundreds of acts of graffiti and tagging in the city.

Taggers are starting to deface people’s artwork, she added.

Cabott said the city needs to get the message out that tagging is not acceptable.

Simard said she reached out to other communities in Canada to discuss the issue.

It’s been shown that when graffiti is removed quickly, it serves as a deterrent to taggers, she said.

The city bylaw does require property owners to remove graffiti within 30 days.

Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu asked if the city has engaged with youth groups to discuss its concern over graffiti.

Simard said the city has indeed reached out to youth organizations, and in fact another meeting was scheduled this week.

Coun. Ted Laking said the city should explore the option of designating an area where tagging is acceptable, as a means of discouraging random tagging.

But it would only work if enforcement of unauthorized tagging is maintained, he said.

Coun. Michelle Friesen suggested establishing an exception zone could be effective.

The mayor noted the Graffiti Management Program is a city policy that applies only to city buildings.

Cabbot also suggested the possibility of involving the business community to identify business owners who wouldn’t mind, or might even want to see graffiti on their buildings.