by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The first dose of reality related to the reduction in public funding for the arts due to property tax reform hit home this week.
When the City Council approved the 2007-08 budget, public financial support for the organizations supported by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville was reduced by 20 percent compared to last year. That trickled down to all 22 institutions and organizations that received support Oct. 9 in the form of Cultural Service Grants.
When requests for the current cycle of grants were submitted in July, both the Cultural Council and the applicants knew they had to prepare for what was coming.
“We had plenty of time to make sure the agencies knew what could happen and we warned them to plan for substantial cuts,” said Robert Arleigh White, executive director of the Cultural Council.
He also said this year — for the first time — part of the review process during the site visits to the applicants was evaluating how each organization was preparing to continue to provide services while absorbing the reduction in financial support.
Operating more efficiently will be part of the business plan for arts organizations for the foreseeable future.
“We’re counseling all of our organizations to do contingency planning,” said Cultural Council Finance Director Betty Francis. “These organizations are just like any business. Cut revenue 20 percent overnight and see what happens. In some cases, that’s exactly what organizations are looking at now.”
The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville received a $185,772 Cultural Service Grant this week. The institution uses the funds each year to help cover operations and administrative costs.
“That source of funding helps our bottom line. It helps pay the light bill and for programming that serves the public. Those are non-glamorous things that are hard to fund with corporate sponsorships,” said Director of Development for the museum Heather Sams.
“Utilities are a huge expense here. In addition to lighting, we have to maintain climate control in terms of temperature and humidity. Our mission is to archivally protect the art,” she said.
Sams also said if the amendment to the state Constitution that would further reduce property tax revenue is approved by voters in January, that would most likely mean even deeper cuts in public funding and that could change the way the museum operates.
“We’re currently closed only on Mondays. We hope we can keep it to just one day (a week) but the best way to reduce our operating expense is to reduce our hours. We just hope we don’t have to do that.”
She said the first step the museum will take to compensate for the reduction in public funding will be to, “Get more aggressive. Get out there and meet more people and ask for more donations from more partners.”
The St. Johns River City Band is also absorbing a reduction in contribution this year with a grant of $56,720 — 80 percent of the amount of support the organization received in 2006-07.
Executive Director Diantha Grant said that will mean the group’s fundraising efforts will be expanded and in light of staff adjustments that began long before the property tax issue was even on the radar, “I’m the executive director and the roadie. This organization has been tightening its belt for the last year. We’re going to make it work and we’re going to continue to do all the things we do, but with less money.”
While the arts community is making adjustments and weathering the recent loss of public funds, White is confident the Cultural Council is positioned to maintain its level of service.
“We are prepared to function as leaders in this conversation and ensure the fiscal health of these organizations no matter how much public money is available,” he said.
2007-08 Cultural Service Grants