Miami-Dade County Arts Budget Update From Brian E. May, Chair Of Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council

Dear Cultural Colleagues,

Miami-Dade County’s FY 2024-25 Proposed Budget includes $23.055 million in funding to support the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs’ cultural competitive grants and programs, serving hundreds of nonprofit cultural institutions, arts groups and individual  artists across Miami-Dade County. As you know, Tourist Development Taxes are an important funding source for cultural arts grants and programming. This revenue source saw an increase as tourism grew coming out of the pandemic; unfortunately, those revenues have since experienced a leveled-off since FY 2022-23, and are projected to decrease going forward. As a result, the proposed budget for cultural competitive grants has been reduced accordingly for FY 2024-25. I know this is especially concerning in light of the veto of cultural grants from the State of Florida Budget by Governor DeSantis earlier this summer.

Despite this challenge, I am assured by the Mayor and members of the County Commission that they are working diligently to plug this gap in competitive cultural grants funding. It is unlikely they will be able to do so within the budget approval process in the coming weeks, but they are committed to trying to identify other available sources of revenue as the FY 2024-25 budget year unfolds.

The Mayor and Commission are committed to supporting our arts and cultural community as an essential part of Miami-Dade County. They increased competitive arts grant funding in FY 2022-23 and maintained that same level of funding for this past year, FY 2023-24.

I believe that our County leaders understand the vital role that you, as cultural organizations and artists, play in our thriving community – making this a great place to live and raise families; and to attract new visitors and businesses. Our leaders also understand the struggle many of you experience in keeping up with the pressure of inflation and increased costs. Please know they are working hard to ensure that your outstanding work continues to uplift our community.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

Brian E. May

Chair

Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council

 

Photo Credit: Assy

Date Posted: September 4, 2024