The Mandarin Museum & Historical Society and dozens of other Jacksonville nonprofits face months of funding uncertainty after the City Council Finance Committee voted 7-1 on Thursday, Aug. 13, to hold back half the city's proposed arts and nonprofit grants pending the outcome of a November property tax referendum.
The vote freezes $3.6 million in Public Service Grants and $3.5 million in Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville funding. The Mandarin Museum is a confirmed recipient of the Cultural Council's Cultural Service Grant Program, which provides general operating support to arts and cultural organizations across Duval County.
If Amendment 3, a statewide property tax phaseout measure on the Nov. 3 ballot, fails, the withheld money would automatically flow to grant recipients at full funding levels. If it passes, the $7.1 million goes into city reserves and would require a two-thirds vote of the full City Council to release.
The stakes are real.
Finance Committee Chair Will Lahnen, R-District 3, and City Council President Nick Howland framed the move as fiscal preparation for a projected $300 million revenue shortfall by 2028 should the tax cut pass. Lahnen said the hold amounts to waiting just 34 days between the Oct. 1 budget effective date and the November vote before committing the funds.
Howland said at the Aug. 13 hearing that everyone needs to think about the decision. "If Amendment 3 passes, the next [council] president and the next Finance Committee are going to have to cut $200 million from this budget. There's a word for that. It's called austerity," he said, according to Jacksonville Today.
Council member Rahman Johnson, D-District 14, the lone no vote, pushed back. He argued the city's $527.62 million in reserves, confirmed by the City Council Auditor's Office, makes full funding possible now rather than cutting based on what might happen.
Council member Terrance Freeman voted yes but asked that the committee research which nonprofits can survive on half their city funding and which would be forced to immediately cut services. He raised concerns about children's programs already operating on school-year schedules. Cultural Council Executive Director Diana Donovan told the committee that $207,000 of its grant awards fund children's programming.
Mandarin Museum's grant hangs on referendum outcome
The Mandarin Museum & Historical Society, which operates the Walter Jones Historical Park and runs educational programming, is listed as a Cultural Service Grant recipient on the Cultural Council's grants page. The specific dollar amount of its grant is not publicly listed.
Under the committee's plan, the museum would receive only 50% of its Cultural Council allocation when the fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Full funding would depend on Amendment 3's defeat or a supermajority council vote.
The Cultural Council told the Finance Committee that Jacksonville's arts and cultural sector drew 2.1 million event attendees and $319 million in economic activity in the most recent reporting period, with cultural service grant programs accounting for 44% of that activity.
Council budget vote, referendum will decide final funding
The full City Council can override the Finance Committee before the final budget vote, scheduled for Sept. 22. Public hearings on the budget are set for Sept. 8 and Sept. 22. Residents who want to weigh in can attend those hearings or contact their council representative before the vote.
The Cultural Council's own grant hearings for fiscal year 2026-2027 are scheduled for Oct. 1.
Key dates ahead
- Sept. 8 — City Council public hearing on fiscal year 2026-2027 budget
- Sept. 22 — Final City Council budget vote
- Oct. 1 — Cultural Council grant hearings; new fiscal year begins
- Nov. 3 — Amendment 3 property tax referendum on the ballot
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