Bravo warns member withdrawals and tax-rule changes could cut about $1 million from regional arts funding

A representative for Bravo warned county leaders that recent member withdrawals and formula reductions will shrink the nonprofit’s budget and likely reduce grant support to local cultural organizations.

The presenter said two communities submitted notices to withdraw from Bravo, triggering an 18-month exit period that began Jan. 1, 2025, and that several other cities have cut their formula share from 28.6% to 25%. "We are anticipating as a result of these changes… a reduction of approximately a million dollars in available funding next year," the presenter said. "We have no ability to replace that lost revenue."

Why it matters: The presenter framed Bravo as the region’s coordinated arts council that saves time and money by handling grant review, management and evaluation on behalf of 17 participating communities. She said Bravo currently invests in 83 organizations across 12 of those communities and that about 90% of those organizations are located in Polk County. Without Bravo’s pooled model, she said, every nonprofit would again have to seek funding from individual cities.

The presenter cited an economic-impact study with Americans for the Arts to quantify the sector’s contribution, saying the nonprofit cultural sector generates more than $309 million in annual economic impact and nearly $15 million in local tax revenue; she added that over 1 million paid attendees participated in programming in 2023–24 and that roughly 345,000 were from outside the metro area. "If you take the gas out of the tank, you're not saving any money anywhere," the presenter said, arguing that cuts could force local governments to backfill lost tax revenue.

Program impacts: The presenter said the most direct, immediate effect will be on organizations and programs tied to withdrawing cities. She told officials that school districts in the exiting communities (Norwalk and part of the Southeast Polk Community School District) — about 7,000 K–5 students — will lose access next year to youth arts access programming through Bravo’s Passport to Culture, though she added the Passport program will be nearly fully supported by an endowment the organization established.

Policy risks and outlook: The presenter told the group she is monitoring legislative developments, including conversations on property tax reform and a proposed change to Iowa State Code that would alter permissible uses or reporting for hotel-motel tax revenues. She said such changes, if enacted, could make it harder for cities to continue investing in a regional model like Bravo and would add reporting burdens for municipalities.

Local officials who spoke after the presentation thanked the representative and noted growing demand for local grant support; one official said the city of Des Moines had nearly $1 million in community betterment grant requests this cycle, the most the city has seen.

The meeting recessed and was set to resume at 10:25 for a West Des Moines special election board canvas.