The City of Kamloops is extending the $50,000 Vandalism Cleanup Support Grant program to the end of December next year.

The money is meant to support city businesses affected by vandalism and graffiti with a maximum payout of $500 per incident to help cover the cost of cleanup and repair, including insurance deductibles.

City of Kamloops External Relations Liaison, Sarah Candido, says there is still about $33,000 left in the grant program, which is a being done in partnership with the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce.

“To date there have been 41 applications and 29 reimbursements. Most of the reimbursements have been in the city’s core business districts and most were for broken glass replacement,” Candido said.

“The remaining 12 applications are awaiting various paperwork to be turned in such as receipts and photos of damages. There have been a couple of applications turned down as they predated the grant’s start date.”

In a report to council, City staff say 25 downtown businesses and 12 North Shore businesses have applied for money. Five were in Sahali, and one each in Valleyview and Dallas.

While businesses do not have to be members of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce to access the money, Candido says they will only be able to apply for the money twice.

“Each time a reimbursement is issued, Brian from the Chamber of Commerce and/or myself have visited the businesses and talked to staff and management about how they are coping with the impacts,” Candido said.

“[We’ve] offered services and resources including the Business Watch Crime Prevention folder which is absolutely chock-full of information. We’ve received positive feedback from recipients about that support.”

It is not clear if any business has applied for money twice.

“Do we know how many of the applicants were chamber members?” Councillor Dale Bass asked. “I ask that because living out where I live, where there has been an awful lot of broken windows and nobody knew anything about it at all. You say it is going to be on the Chamber website, but if you’re not a Chamber member, you’re not going to the Chamber website.

Candido says the Chamber of Commerce is working on a more comprehensive plan to get the information out to businesses in outlying areas of Kamloops.

“I can say anecdotally quite a few members we have delivered cheques to have not been Chamber members but have word it from word of mouth,” she said. “Last fall, the initial uptake was slow then in the winter and early spring there was an increase due in part to a communication campaign, and then recently again, intakes have decreased.”

“The Chamber is asking people that if you see a business impacted by vandalism, please remind them that the reimbursement program is available for up to two intakes per business.”

You can find more details about the program here.