MOUNT Gambier City Council will pay part or all of sponsorship funding to events where a commitment was made before a public health emergency was declared.
At Tuesday night’s council meeting, elected members moved to not seek reimbursement of funds already provided to events regardless of whether they occurred or not.
Mayor Lynette Martin said as a result of COVID-19, “virtually every event” in council’s calendar was cancelled and looking after organisations was part of the recovery.
“If we look after these people who were hosting these events so next year hopefully they are reinstated, so that if they have spent money they are not out of pocket,” she said.
“So they are a better chance to bounce back when these events are able to be held again.”
Over 25 events will still share up to a combined total of $250,000 of sponsorship.
Funds already paid to date are considered to be acquitted and any request for reimbursement will be accepted on the basis of the actual costs incurred by the event.
