For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 19, 2016
From the office of Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal:
Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal, who chairs the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee, today demanded accountability and transparency from the County’s Executive Branch related to a $200,000 funding request in Fiscal Year 2017 for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC).
Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal
calls for transparency and accountability
in request for
County’s Arts and Humanities funding
Recommended operating budget calls for matching funds for
County Executive’s Ball for the Arts without providing
details on how funding would be used
ROCKVILLE, Md., April 19, 2016—Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal, who chairs the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee, today demanded accountability and transparency from the County’s Executive Branch related to a $200,000 funding request in Fiscal Year 2017 for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC).
The $200,000 was included in a non-departmental account as part of County Executive Ike Leggett’s recommended FY17 operating budget that was presented to the Council on March 15. The Council and its committees are reviewing all aspects of the recommended budget as they work toward adopting the new County budget in late May. The budget will go into effect on July 1.
The Arts and Humanities Matching Fund provides matching grants on behalf of the County to awardees of the Executive Ball for the Arts and matching funds for the AHCMC Power2Give program.
On March 29 and on April 4, 7 and 15, County Council staff requested revenues and expenditure statements relating to the Montgomery County Executive’s Ball for the Arts. The information was not provided.
“Any organization that comes before the Council to request funding from the County should open its books for review and be ready to provide accurate, clear and timely data about how these funds will be spent,” said Councilmember Leventhal.
Councilmember Leventhal repeated the request for information at today’s Health and Human Services Committee meeting. He also requested an explanation of how the Montgomery County Executive’s Ball determines grantees.
“I do not understand why no answer was provided to the Council staff’s request for revenues and expenditures for the Executive’s Arts Ball,” said Councilmember Leventhal.
The Executive’s Ball for the Arts, which traditionally is held in December, is affiliated with a non-profit organization. As such, the Executive’s Ball does not report its revenues or expenditures on the Internal Revenue Service’s Form 990.
The County is a sponsor of the Executive’s Ball and also provides matching funds for awards and other in-kind contributions. The web site for the Montgomery County Executive’s Ball states, “Funds raised will go to support arts education programs in Montgomery County.”
The Health and Human Services Committee did not make a recommendation today on the proposed $200,000 in funding. The committee plans to return to this item in two weeks.
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Release ID: 16-125