FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County’s newest budget for the 2025 fiscal year is still in the process of being finalized, but two commissioners on the board want to make a change.
Commissioners Dana Barrett and Marvin Arrington, Jr. are urging their fellow Fulton County Board of Commissioners members to reverse a move that would cut more than half of the county’s $3 million arts funding.
According to a joint statement from Barrett and Arrington, the commission voted 5-to-2 on Jan. 29 to pass a budget that took the $3 million yearly funding for the arts and removed $1.7 million from it.
In the latest budget vote, both Barrett and Arrington voted no due to the cuts.
“I was deeply disappointed in the budget that we passed last week for a variety of reasons,” Barrett said in a statement. “While we have life and death issues to deal with in our jail that will require significant funding, we cannot afford to stop investing in our communities and in our future. Arts and culture play a huge part in that. I will continue to fight for all the departments and programs that were underfunded in this budget, but Commissioner Arrington and I agreed that we had to move quickly on the arts due to the timing of the grant application process.”
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The commissioners said that cuts to the county arts budget, combined with “likely reductions in state and federal funding,” would put arts and culture organizations in Fulton County at risk of underfunding.
The two said that arts and culture are big drivers for local economic activity and help bring visitors into the area and encourage residents to go out and spend their dollars at local businesses.
“Atlanta is a destination for arts and culture events. People come here from all over for the music, the museums, the festivals. As a longtime supporter of the arts, I know how vital these programs are to our city. Fulton County has always been a leader in showing up for our arts and culture community. Community members often thank me for supporting the arts programming they enjoy,” Arrington said. “It would be devastating to see parts of this vibrant community disappear because we couldn’t be the funding partner they’ve come to depend on.”
Barrett and Arrington introduced an amendment to the budget for consideration at the next board meeting, which will be held Wednesday, adding the $1.7 million back to the budget, noting that a currently listed budget of roughly $6.1 million does not include that additional amount for funding the Contracts for Services Program.
If passed, the amendment would provide additional funds to keep operations at their current levels.
Discussion on that budget item is expected Wednesday, though the disposition of how commissioners may vote is unclear.
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