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Arts groups urge council to preserve grants as proposal for 'Experience Carmel' would pull funding from arts budget
Summary
Representatives from the arts community told the council they were concerned that a proposed city-funded nonprofit, "Experience Carmel," would be seeded with nearly $1.8 million and that the money would come from the arts budget — including cuts to the Carmel Arts Grant and the Allied Solutions Center management fee.
Several local arts leaders urged the Carmel Common Council on Sept. 15 to preserve existing arts funding and to ask questions about a proposed city-funded nonprofit called Experience Carmel.
Jeff McDermott, representing the Allied Solutions Center and the Great American Songbook Foundation, said the proposal presented during recent budget workshops would allocate nearly $1.8 million to fund Experience Carmel next year. He said he and other arts leaders have not seen a feasibility study, governing documents or an IRS nonprofit filing and questioned how any savings the city expects would be realized.
“What we heard is that nearly $1,800,000 is being proposed to fund Experience Carmel next year and that at some point it's expected to generate some savings for the city of Carmel,” McDermott said. He asked why the city would reduce existing arts funding to pay for a nonprofit that is not itself an arts organization and pointed specifically to proposed reductions he said would total $220,000 from the Carmel Arts Grant and $100,000 from the Allied Solutions Center’s management fee.
Other public commenters urged the council to protect arts funding given budget pressures after state revenue changes. Councilors acknowledged the public comments; councilors and staff said the organization’s proposal will be discussed further in upcoming finance committee meetings and that details such as governance, funding sources and expected efficiencies remain to be clarified.
Councilors did not take a final vote on Experience Carmel at the Sept. 15 meeting. Staff and the council signaled they would seek additional information — including feasibility, governance documents and a clear explanation of where savings would be realized — before committing budget dollars or formal changes to grant lines.
