By Bert Gambini
Buffalo, NY – Many local cultural institutions could be without County funding this year.
The County Executive is not due to release his budget until Friday, but the Buffalo News is reporting that Chris Collins is budgeting only for the 10 culturals he considered regionally significant -- and that group will see allocations equal to what they received last year.
The Buffalo Zoo tops the list with a $1.5 million grant. The Museum of Science is next, followed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Albright-Knox. All told, the 10 institutions will get $4.4 million in County funding this year. Total cultural spending last year topped $5 million, with 33 institutions sharing the difference between those two figures.
If the budget is approved this year, that larger group will be without any money from Erie County.