Subject:
Title
Approval, Re: Tourist Development Council FY 2023-24 Cultural Support Grant Program recommendations.
End
Fiscal Impact:
FY 2023-24: $530,000, Cultural Fund 1446/293020. Note: this is higher than the previously approved Board authorized budget allocation of $400,000, but there is funding available in the Cultural Fund.
Dept/Office:
Tourism Development Office
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested the Board of County Commissioners approve the Tourist Development Council’s recommendation to approve funding for the following FY 2023-24 Cultural Support Grant Program applications listed:
• Titusville Playhouse - $25,000
• Space Coast Symphony Orchestra - $ 20,000
• Melbourne Art Festival - $15,000
• Melbourne Main Street - $25,000
• Space Coast Pride - $15,000
• Historic Cocoa Village Main Street - $25,000
• Cape Canaveral Lighthouse - $25,000
• Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. - $25,000
• Space Coast Art Festival - $15,000
• Brevard Symphony Orchestra - $25,000
• Surfside Playhouse - $15,000
• The Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse - $25,000
• Green Gables - $15,000
• American Police Hall of Fame - $25,000
• Museum of Dinosaurs & Ancient Cultures - $25,000
• U.S. Space Walk of Fame Foundation - $25,000
• Native Heritage Gathering, Inc. - $20,000
• Valiant Air Command, Inc. - $25,000
• Melbourne Municipal Band Association - $15,000
• City of Palm Bay - $20,000
• Florida Surf Museum - $20,000
• Field Manor Foundation, Inc. - $15,000
• Cocoa Beach Main Street - $25,000
• Brevard Regional Arts Groups, Inc. - $25,000
• The Harry T & Harriette V. Moore Cultural Complex, Inc. - $20,000
Further, based on the facts specified for each grant, by approving this agenda item, the Board will make the legislative findings the Tourist Development Tax funds are authorized for cultural grants pursuant to section 125.0104(5)(a)3, Florida Statutes, and Section 102-119(3)d, of the Brevard County Code of Ordinances. Each of the tourist oriented cultural and special events have as one of its main purposes the attraction of tourists, and the entity and the Space Coast Office of Tourism both intend to ensure marketing and promotion of these events.
Additionally, request authority for the Director, Tourism Development Office, to negotiate and sign all necessary grant agreements, budget change requests, and related documents to support the grants upon County Attorney and Risk Management Approval. It is also requested to authorize the County Manager to execute necessary budget change requests.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
The Cultural Support Grant Program is designed to promote cultural tourism in Brevard County by funding tourist-oriented cultural and special events such as visual and performing arts including theater, concerts, recitals, opera, dance, art exhibitions and other tourist-related activities. The grant applications are reviewed and scored by the Cultural Committee of the Tourist Development Council. The grant program assists the County in attracting tourists to attend high quality cultural events in order to generate significant economic impact through participant spending.
The Cultural Committee at their July 19, 2023 meeting and the Tourist Development Council at their July 26, 2023 meeting unanimously recommended that the Board approve funding the Twenty-five (25) applications as well as make the necessary legislative findings for each grant award.
All awards will be on a grant reimbursement basis. Reimbursement grants up to $25,000 are available to support events or programs that benefit Florida’s Space Coast in this manner. The Cultural Committee, TDC, and Board of County Commissioners approved funding award amounts within the Guidelines to determine the funding level by the number of Out-of-County visitors in attendance for each grant. Referring to the FY 2023-24 Guidelines, Section 6.0 Available Funds the funding tier is as follows: applications that attract 1,000-2,500 Out-of-County attendees are eligible for $15,000; 2,501-5,000 Out-of-County attendees are eligible for $20,000; 5,001+ Out-of-County attendees are eligible for $25,000. After allocating the appropriate funds per their Out-of-County attendees to each application the Total Funding requests for all approved applications is $530,000 which is higher than the $400,000 allocated, however, the Cultural Fund has funding available to award the $530,000 in grants recommend by the TDC.
During the grant cycle two years ago, the Board asked for more detailed information on Return on Investment (ROI), or a calculation of the visitor spending that reflects the season/event impact of out-of-county visitor’s impact on Brevard County tourism. This request has resulted in significant changes to the Cultural Support Grant Program Guidelines. These include:
o Events/Activities must be held in-person with in-person attendees
o Main purpose to attract out-of-county visitors to Brevard County
o Virtual or Media events will not qualify
o Out-of-county visitors must account 1,000 total visitation
o 50% of awarded funding must be spent on Out-of-County advertising
o The funding is based on a predetermined amount ($15,000; $20,000; and $25,000) according to the number of out-of-county attendees as determined by the Tourism Development Office
This updated information is found in the attached scoresheet. This document includes Total Points Earned, Average score (Total Points Earned divided by the number of Committee members who scored that application), the Trimmed Mean Average (with low and high scores removed), Rank Order (referring to highest to lowest Trimmed Mean Average), Funding, and OOC# (Out-of-County visitation number).
The FY 2023-2024 Cultural Support Grant Program Guidelines require each application to reach the minimum application score of 80 and a minimum Out-of-County visitation of 1,000.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
Please return a memo of the Board’s action to the Director, Tourism Development Office and County Attorney’s Office.