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Volusia County Council narrows proposed cultural grants, caps consulting aid
Summary
After an hour-plus of public testimony and debate, the Volusia County Council approved modified recommendations to the Community Cultural Grants program, limiting consultant funding to $5,000 per applicant (from a proposed larger consulting pool) and removing a proposed automatic per-capita funding commitment for future years.
Volusia County Council on Tuesday approved changes to the county's Community Cultural Grants program that council members and cultural providers had debated for months.
The council voted 6-1 to adopt the Cultural Council's modified recommendations with two changes: capping consultant-assistance funds at $5,000 per entity (from a $25,000 'bucket' the cultural council proposed) and striking language that would have tied future annual funding to a fixed per-capita dollar amount.
The change matters because it reshapes how the county distributes roughly $611,758 in annual cultural support and narrows how larger program grants will unwind in the coming years. Tim Bailey, Volusia County parks, recreation and culture director, told the council the cultural council's recommendations shift the program from an operating grant model to a program-based approach. "So it's going from an operating grant to a program based grant, and that's the important takeaway here," Bailey said.
Why it mattered
The discussion drew more than an hour of public testimony, with leaders of local cultural organizations urging the council to preserve…
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