Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Arts Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Arts & Humanities Council urges $1 million boost to meet rising grant demand
Summary
The Arts & Humanities Council told the Education Culture Committee it needs a $1,000,000 increase for FY27 grantmaking to serve new organizations and individuals; county staff recommended a 2.5% inflationary adjustment ($176,349) and the committee agreed to concur with the executive for now.
The Arts & Humanities Council asked Montgomery County’s Education Culture Committee on April 22 to consider a $1,000,000 addition to its FY27 grantmaking budget to cover new applicants and underserved organizations. Council staff briefed the committee that the county executive recommends a $176,349 increase, a 2.5% inflationary adjustment to the NDA.
"The support that we're asking, the million that we're asking... is not to pad our already existent grantees with more, but to meet the demand of new grantees coming to the table," Ms. Jenkins, representing the Arts & Humanities Council, told the committee. Ms. Cummings, council staff, noted the council transmitted a memorandum on April 15 requesting the additional million to meet anticipated demand in FY27.
Members praised the council’s work and acknowledged rising nonprofit need during budget season; Chair Jolanda said she proposed a separate 5% increase to nonprofit funding but that final action must await later budget deliberations. For the moment, the committee "concurred with the county executive's recommendation," a procedural step the chair said would carry forward to the full council for final decisions. Committee members requested continued detail on grant allocations and the anticipated demand figures included in the staff packet.
The committee did not take a final funding vote at the session; members signaled they would continue tracking the request as part of the countywide budget process.
