The City of Raleigh approved its budget for the next fiscal year on the evening of June 15. A spokesperson for the Office of Raleigh Arts reports that cuts to funding for nonprofits, including arts organizations, were never on the table. The council made budget cuts elsewhere to deal with revenue losses resulting from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Wake County approved its budget on June 15 also but deferred dealing with community organization funding until their July 6 meeting. We understand they put in a placeholder ($1.25 million) for the whole fund but that there are 20-30 applicants, 12 of which appear to have been itemized. Seventy people made comments but we will have to wait to know the results thereof.
The manager’s proposal cut $3M from the previous approved budget, leaving $500,000 in place for all the agencies combined.
Here are the agencies known to be involved and their funding the last time:
Boys & Girls Club of Wake County $0
North Carolina Symphony $100,000
United Arts Council of Wake County $511,000
East Wake Education Foundation $50,000
Communities In Schools $100,000
Marbles Kids Museum $650,000
Wake County Smart Start $1,688,028
Universal School Breakfast Program $258,000
Interfaith Food Shuttle $25,000
InterAct $100,000
Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC $12,000
Wake Smiles $0
Expenditure Totals $3,494,028
Manager Recommendation for all of the above $500,000
Shortfall $2,994,028
(Revised) Placeholder Amount $1,250,000
Shortfall $2,244,028
Readers will know what they must do. Refer to the previous blog post on UA funding for contact info.
