DOWNTOWN TALLAHASSEE, FL — After lengthy debate, the structure of how the Council on Culture and Arts receives money from Leon County will change. The structure change passed in a 6 to 1 vote, with Commissioner Bill Proctor dissenting. The new structure, known as the Service & Advisory model, will give the county more jurisdiction of how many tourism tax dollars the organization receives.
The county commission passed this structure change after lengthy debate, calling it the "compromise" model between the previous model where COCA acted as the sole administrator of the funds, and the "in-house" model which would have placed COCA under the County's Division of Tourism, realizing $213,000 in savings.
The Service & Advisory model does not amount to any financial relief, according to the county. However, commissioners who voted in favor of this structure change said it provides consistency across the board. Commissioners said this new structure is similar funding model of their Community Human Service Partnership.
Commissioners and staff emphasized that this model does not strip COCA of funding or its agency.
"I think that the hysteria that's been created over this issue is unfortunately," said Welch. "I think the idea that we're cutting arts funding, we're gutting COCA. I think those terms are inflammatory, they are incorrect, I think they are misleading and just outright unfortunate."
Commissioners also said they believed the Service & Advisory model allowed for more fiscal responsibility and stewardship over taxpayer dollars. The County says the Board will be able to set the amount of up to 20% of tourism tax dollars to be distributed to COCA.
Kathleen Spehar, Executive Director of COCA, said concerns she has about this new model including their ability to draw down funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. The county said they had received confirmation that COCA would still be able to receive these grants, Sephar said he had heard otherwise. Spehar did note she has a meeting set up with NEA on Wednesday. ABC 27 expects to learn more about what the future the grant process for COCA.
An ordinance to amend this structure will have to pass with at least 5 out of 7 votes following a public hearing. Staff are expected to bring this item back to commissioners at a later date.
ABC 27 News will keep you updated as we learn more about this change in structure.
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