Cultural Art Agencies in Savannah

Savannah is a coastal Georgia city which lies on the Savannah River approximately 32km upriver from the Atlantic Ocean. Aside from that, it is the oldest city in the United States and was established in the year 1733; it is today an industrial center; an essential Atlantic seaport and hence the third largest metropolitan area. This particular city has a lot of needs in terms of expenditure; some critical; some major; and some minor. As such, there are instances where taxpayers feel the right amount of funds allocated to a particular public good is appropriate and there are other times when there are undertones and murmurings among Savannah GA residents and policymakers on a need to alter a previous allocation. 

From the fact that Savannah is an industrious locality with a lot of economic activity taking place, even more, apparent is the even distribution of resources by the state budget which counts as a significant factor to the growth and development of the locality. With regards to public opinion on the previous 2017 budget as prepared by the Office of the Mayor Eddie DeLoach, quite a large amount of funds were allocated to the cultural art agencies unnecessarily (Squire and Gary 45). Cultural art agencies under the cultural affairs in Savannah GA is charged with the responsibility of making sure that a variety of quality heritage-based, cultural and artistic openings are accessible to the inhabitants and tourists of the Savannah. This the public does not negate, and in fact, a lot of individuals hail the role played by the cultural art agencies; only that the prospective allocation of funds to the arts and culture for the year 2018 has been deemed as a misplaced extravagance.

Recently, the council under Mayor Eddie DeLoach passed a budget towards the all the cultural arts agencies found in the locale that amount to 680,440 USD. Such an amount allocated to this particular aspect (a non-pertinent issue such as health) in the budgeting may be debatable and a reason for people to raise heads primarily due to the high figure allocated to it; a sign that there are much more pressing issues in the Savannah region. For instance; The Savannah Fire Rescue over time has been treated as a distinct, self-sustaining commercial unit; a docket that should be accorded the support of the government. More specifically, the current budget sees to it that all owners of property who receive Savannah’s on a national level are aware of fire protection charges for said service; this is as they do for water, sewer and sanitation services (Deng and Chad 63). Regardless of the size of a family unit, the current budget clearly defines that each family pays a fixed amount of 21 USD per month; an amount that totals up to 256 USD annually for the fire services. It should be noted that the adoption of the fire fee was meant to give a chance to the city’s general fund to come up with required investments to cover the future growth of Savannah. Culture and the arts were far from what the residents of Savannah, GA expected a bulk of their taxes to be directed (Barr and George 79).

Without any shadow of a doubt, many individuals who consider Savannah to be their home would prefer that more attention is dedicated to sanitation, sewerage, fire protection, and water as opposed to the arts. However, this does not connote that the residents have zero respect and awareness on the need for arts and cultural interactions in the society. The amount that people of the Savannah region have been put in a position to pay especially despite the size of their family units not being considered can be reduced or completely removed as one of the burdens to the locals. This is done by cutting short the amount budgeted for the cultural arts agencies and adding it to something like fire protection services

Despite the fact that the cultural affairs aim may have been to empower talent and its growth in the Savannah, it is still much more significant than the locals are assured of their safety emergencies if ever they were to occur without there being worry of payment on their person. The cultural art agencies may find it difficult ( if a significant portion of their funding is taken away) in the beginning more so when it comes to recruitment of upcoming youthful talent which usually requires funds for their training and also setting up new training centers all over the Savannah (Mendonsa 38). All the same in the long run solutions to this problem will come up, and challenges may be approached with ease because at the end of the day it is the locals’ safety that should always come first. If left with little money committed to their course, the arts and culture could survive because of holding shows, concerts, drama festivals, and music festivals that have the ability to attract crowds and money concurrently.

Below is a structured summary of the proposed budget by the Savannah Mayor Eddie DeLoach;

ASPECT

AMOUNT IN USD

Non- profit programs

643,177

Cultural arts agencies

680,400

Extension of youth programs

319,080

Enhancement of Savannah environment

2,300,000

Modernization of drainage control system

500,000

Improvement of Joseph Tribble park

410,000

Sidewalk, street and lighting improvement

1,200,000

Total Allocations

6,052,657

An alternative budget that would eat into the cultural arts agencies and reward the other dockets with funds is as shown below.

ASPECT

AMOUNT IN USD

Non- profit programs

643,177

Cultural arts agencies

280,400

Extension of youth programs

319,080

Enhancement of Savannah environment

2,300,000

Modernization of drainage control system

900,000

Improvement of Joseph Tribble park

410,000

Sidewalk, street and lighting improvement

1,200,000

Total Allocations

6,052,657

From the above budget, it is quite evident that adjustments have been made on the modernization of the drainage control system and the cultural arts agencies. This is simply because sanitation is much greater a cause when it comes to the survival of humanity vis-à-vis cultural arts. From the above table it is evident that detailed budgetary planning proves itself worthy of being an operational guide or a financial map; and with this, it is vital that Savannah GA carefully plan their financial affairs in order to achieve the aimed at goals of their region (Mendonsa 38).

From the above proposal, as was prepared, it is clear that one really goes without opposition; Savannah GA is a worldwide magnet for the tourism sector. With this regard, money should be taken care of considering the fact that the automobile age took its toll, widened streets, demolitions for parking and freeway off-ramps and so much still needs to be done correctly. Allocation of funds should be directed towards improving the most pertinent situations first; with other lesser concerns being rendered an opportunity cost or postponed to be allotted more money on later dates (Deng and Chad 93). This may seem to be difficult at the moment, but with proper planning, it would prove to be the best approach. This will be possible if all channels favoring an increased number of tourists such as better roads, health facilities, infrastructure and so much more are improved. The region will generate more and efficient income.

Cultural arts agencies under the cultural affairs in Savannah GA, recently worked with 45 nonprofits to collect data from Americans on for the Arts latest national economic impact study, arts, and economic prosperity. Their participation in the research project helped them to quantify the economic impact of the arts and culture industry in the Savannah region (Rubin 22). Being that the culture and arts industry supports jobs and generates government revenue, it should not be completely forgone as an alternative that does not bring value to the welfare of concerned parties.

With more allocations to pressing issues, it is clear that the mayor will gain more trust from the people of Savannah; he will be viewed as a much reliable leader who is more concerned with the life of his people and will, therefore, maintain his position or even seek a higher position won from the trust of the people. In addition, the people in the cultural agencies could be helped to expand on their levels of income generation and in the long run benefit the Savannah region at large, more so the youth.

Overall, it is worth mentioning that the Office of the Mayor is charged with a lot of mandate to determine worthy public goods and projects. This comes with a lot of responsibility to ensure inclusion and zeroes free ridership challenges. Revenue from taxpayers should also be allocated to the most befitting issues.

Works Cited

Barr, Margaret J., and George S. McClellan. Budgets and financial management in higher education. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.

Deng, Jinyang, and Chad D. Pierskalla. “Linking Importance-Performance Analysis, Satisfaction, and Loyalty: A Study of Savannah, GA.” Sustainability 10.3 (2018): 704.

Mendonsa, Arthur A. ”Yardsticks for measuring the success of service programs in Savannah.” State & Local Government Review (1986): 89-92.

Rubin, Irene S. The politics of public budgeting: Getting and spending, borrowing and balancing. CQ Press, 2016.

Squire, Peverill, and Gary Moncrief. State legislatures today: Politics under the domes. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.