Volusia County Considers Eliminating Funding Support
For Cultural Organizations
We received a communication recently to alert us that the Volusia County Council was entertaining the thought of eliminating the County Cultural Grant. When I first read the info, it struck me as unimaginable.
If you are unfamiliar with this particular grant program, it is not the same as the ECHO program that was voted on by taxpayers and reapproved in 2020 for an additional 20 years with 72% voter support.
The County Cultural Grant Program is funded by the county budget and has been in existence for about 25 years now.
It provides funding for non-profit, cultural and heritage organizations with general operating funding support. Eligible organizations can apply to receive up to 10% of their annual budget based on a score that is given to the grant package by the Cultural Council of Volusia County.
The Cultural Council is a 9-member advisory board that is appointed to 2-year terms by members of our County Council.
This item, to appoint the members of the Cultural Council, was on the agenda at the May 18th County Council meeting.
When the agenda item was raised, County Chair Jeff Brower addressed county staff members and asked if the council could simply eliminate the Cultural Council instead of reappointing them.
He also addressed the other members of the council saying that he doesn't see why the County Council should reappoint the Cultural Council, when instead they could simply eliminate it and absorb Volusia County's $600,000 in funding support for cultural organizations back into the county budget.
You can view the meeting archive and discussion via the following link, the discussion in question takes place at the three hour and thirty four minute mark in the video archive.
During the discussions that followed, only two of our county commissioners expressed reservations about eliminating the county's cultural council, the county cultural grant, and the impact it would have on the cultural organizations of Volusia County. Many council members seemed caught off guard by the conversation.
As the discussion continued, the council narrowly avoided holding a vote at that time, which likely would have resulted in the elimination of the Cultural Council of Volusia and the limited funding support that the county extends to its cultural organizations. Instead, they decided to table the discussion and vote, until a meeting that is presumed to be held later this month.
The most well-thought-out words shared in the interaction came from a member of the public who spoke during public comments. He reminded our County Council that there are many people in Volusia County who support and value our cultural organizations, and that the potential loss of even limited cultural support could shift the character of the county over time.
The Southeast Volusia Historical Society (SVHS) and New Smyrna Museum of History have benefited from the County Cultural Grant for many years. It's no financial windfall mind you, a fractional amount of 10% of an annual budget.
However, that amount has become a part of our annual fiscal planning and represents a portion of our budget that we don't have to fundraise by some other means. These funds are most impactful to smaller organizations who are just getting started, that was certainly the case for our organization. It can represent initial operational funds that are not restricted, so they can be used for light bills, insurance payments and other financial burdens that can weigh on new organizations as they try to get a foot hold in our communities.
The general commentary from our County Commissioners was that this program was started 25 years ago to help bolster non-profit, cultural, and heritage organizations, and that those organizations should be able to fund raise on their own by now.
This seems to be at the least, very short-sighted. It presumes that the same cultural and heritage organizations that existed 25 years ago are continuing to benefit from a program that should have gone away and that no new organizations have been created or are in the development stages today.
Perhaps the program deserves review and updating to make the money more readily available to smaller organizations who would benefit the most from county support.
However, to simply eliminate a funding program for non-profit, cultural, and heritage organizations that has been in existence for 25 years with no public input or consideration for those that would be impacted, still feels like it did when I first read that communication, unimaginable.
I plan to express that sentiment to my representative on the County Council, and the County Council Chair as they prepare to further discuss and move to a vote on this matter.
If you value the non-profit, cultural, and heritage organizations in your corner of Volusia County, I hope that you will do the same.
Greg Holbrook
Executive Director
New Smyrna Museum of History
