Vernon city council denied the request for additional funding from O’Keefe Ranch & Interior Heritage Society at Monday’s meeting.

The society asked for an operating grant of $150,000 for 2025, citing a rapid increase in costs due to inflation.

Council reconfirmed its previous decision to uphold its lease agreement with the ranch which provides the society with an annual $10,000 payment. The lease was signed in 1997, making it 27 years old, and is set to expire in 2027.

For the last few years the city has provided O’Keefe’s with an annual $50,000 grant funded from taxation.

The future of the ranch has been a continued topic of discussion for city council amid constant requests for increased funding.

The society went before council multiple times in the past year to ask for funding, to varying degrees of success. It was given $70,000 in May and council agreed to give the society $30,000 to get through the month of March. Both grants were in addition to the annual $50,000 the city previously provided the ranch.

The most recent request for $85,000 was to pay summer students and to complete repairs, including a $25,000 stairway fix, which was denied by council.