HomeMy WebLinkAboutCultural Developmen Fund Uses
To: San Bernardino City Council Members and Mayor
From: Dr. Dorothy Garcia, San Bernardino Resident
RE: 2020-21 Budget Proposals
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In listening to and viewing the City Council meeting of June 2, I see that
included in the proposed 2020-21 budget is the use of Cultural Development
Impact funds (fee, tax) to partially fund the Parks and Recreation Dept., and the
City Libraries. I have been involved with that particular source of funding for
several years, and know that the fund is now considered part of the General Fund,
even though it still has the title of Cultural Development Fund and has the same
fund numbers as it did from the beginning. In the proposed budget document, the
description of the fund is “…A Cultural Development Construction tax is imposed
on the privilege of new construction or reconstruction as defined in Municipal
Code Section 15.57.020, Subsections C and D. Such tax shall be equal to one-half
of one percent of the construction cost. The funds derived from this tax shall be
allocated to cultural development activities in the City ,or such other uses as the
Mayor and City Council may direct.” Most of this description is the same as when
the fund was established many years ago. About 3 years ago, the Council made
the decision to change some of the wording, specifically the last phrase, “..such
other uses as the Mayor and City Council may direct.” I believe that this added
phrase gives permission for some to see this as a “slush” fund to fill in gaps that
exist in the budget.
Relating this to the proposed 20-21 budget, the inclusion of Parks and Recreation
and Libraries as one-time recipients makes sense in this time of response to the
shortfall in city income. Parks and Recreation, because of the several cultural
events for which that department is responsible, plus the arts instruction and
activities which take place in the community centers---and the city libraries, which
offer many culturally related materials and activities. These items are a proper
use of the Cultural Development funds.
My concern has to do with the proposals in the Capital Improvement budget
which you will discuss tonight. It appears to me that the proposal includes use of
a million dollars of the Cultural Development fund to maintain and improve the
streets of the city. This is a real stretch, although the Council has the power to
approve that recommendation, based on the changes you made about 3 years
ago. It seems to me that, although ½ of 1 percent of the cost of construction is
not a lot of money in the total of a developer’s costs, the use of the title Cultural
Development connotes that the money will be used for that purpose. It is
possible that a developer, seeing that description, might have concern as to
whether the money is really being used for the purpose described, and might
either refuse to submit it or seek legal action.
Although, at this point, there is certainly adequate money in the Cultural
Development account to fund some of the departments of the city that provide
what we could term “cultural activities and events,” caution needs to be used so
that the fund is not depleted by the time that the city begins to move ahead with
the necessary arts and cultural aspects of what make a thriving community. There
have, in the past, been grants available from the Bloomberg Foundation to fund
street improvements which include art installations.
In fact, if part of the money were used for arts-related projects either on or
adjacent to the streets and sidewalks at intersections, and the arts organizations
in the city were asked to provide guidance on this, the use of the Cultural Arts
money would be justified.
Thank you for listening.
Dr. Dorothy Garcia, Former Arts and Historical Preservation Commissioner