VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County arts organizations will have to find a new funding source after county leaders agreed the money could be better spent elsewhere.
County leaders said the decision ultimately came down to protecting taxpayers.
Chairman Jeff Brower said the county has no decision-making charitable giving decisions for taxpayers and that he’s already asked that $300,000 be allocated to sidewalk construction and repair.
However, the decision cuts more than $600,000 in funding for more than 30 organizations like the Hub on Canal in New Smyrna Beach.
For more than a decade the Hub has displayed work for local artists and partnered with the community to help kids, people in the hospital and veterans.
“We go to Pay Center for Girls, we go to the Boys and Girls Club, we go to all the southeast Volusia schools you know that only get 100 dollars for art supplies a year,” said Executive Director Jennifer Marano.
Marano explained that while the Hub doesn’t solely rely on the county to pay for these programs, losing the money means some could suffer.
“They were tiering it down each year. Which gave us time to put a whole new strategy in place and this was just we are done,” said Marano.
Organizations also for the first time adjusted funding plans and grant timelines to comply with the county’s requests.
“And we bent over backwards to abide by what they had asked of us and by doing that, it actually gave us less time this year. I think four weeks to get our grant put together,” said Traci Flumer, executive director for Volusia Community Arts.
Part of the discussion was centered around LGBTQ events put on by Volusia Pride at local theaters, a concern raised by one councilor. But that group argues it doesn’t benefit from county funds, it only works with organizations that do.
“They are events held by an organization, Volusia Pride, that isn’t a recipient of the cultural arts grants and never even applied for the cultural arts grants,” said president of Volusia Pride, Ann-Marie Willaker.
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