Council Roundup: Arts facility grants approved

Published October 11 2024

Plus, budget areas discussed, including public safety, utilities and transportation; proclamations issued for key occasions

The City Council this week unanimously approved recommendations by the Arts Commission to fund the 2025-2026 Capital Projects and Facility Maintenance Grants as part of the Arts and Cultural Facility Grant Program.

The allocations will fund nonprofits for the work of maintaining, remodeling and building art and cultural facilities in Bellevue. Award recommendations were developed through an in-depth application and review process driven by the commission and involving local arts and culture professionals. More than $22 million in grant requests were received by the city from five organizations across seven grant applications.

The Allocations Committee recommended funding five projects totaling $1.8 million, including KidsQuest Children's Museum, two projects for Theatre33, the American Asian Performing Arts Theatre and the Bellevue College Foundation/Carson Theatre. These grants support positive impacts for potentially 90,453 square feet of art and cultural spaces across Bellevue, from downtown to BelRed, Lake Hills and Eastgate.

In June the council approved the Arts and Cultural Facility Grant Program to formalize and expand the city's support for arts and cultural facilities through a structured and equitable competitive grantmaking process to help local organizations with capital and maintenance needs.

Further detail is available in the meeting materials, and the full presentation and discussion can be found on Bellevue Television's replay of the meeting of the meeting.

Budget areas discussed

The council received information about investments in Community Safety and Health and a Safe and Efficient Transportation System during the first of three meetings covering each of the city's six Strategic Target Areas that guide city operations and represent desired outcomes in the community. The presentation included the city's proposed utility rate increases for 2025-2026.

In the 2025-2026 proposed budget, Bellevue continues its commitment to public safety and reliable, high-quality infrastructure as the foundation of a healthy, vibrant community. In the last budget cycle, the city made a significant investment in public safety resources to meet rapid growth and urbanization in Bellevue, which will continue to be supported.

New investments in Community Safety and Health include dedicated police support for large events, domestic violence advocacy, a new water rescue program through the fire department, continued work on the new Fire Station 10, and key maintenance investments for fire stations, utilities infrastructure, and improvements to ensure city infrastructure and services are more resilient and responsive during disasters and emergencies. The city continues to invest about 80% of the capital budget in renewal and replacement of aging water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure.

The budget also includes resource allocation to support the city's Utility Rate Relief program, given that utility rates are rising across the region, including in Bellevue. The combined utility bill, including water, sewer and storm service, is proposed to increase by 7.4% in 2025 and 6.8% in 2026. This proposal ensures Bellevue can continue to maintain and manage the infrastructure needed to deliver reliable and safe utility services that are essential to the community's safety and health while facing inflationary pressures. More information on Utilities Rate Relief options is available at Rate Relief.

To promote a transportation system that is sustainable, reliable and predictable, key transportation investments in the proposed budget include a continued focus on connectivity and safety in the transportation system, funding for continued design work on key road projects in Bellevue, important maintenance funding and neighborhood transportation projects to support the transformation of the BelRed corridor.

More details about the Community Safety and Health and Safe and Efficient Transportation System areas of the proposed 2025-2026 Budget are available in the meeting materials.

Proclamations issued for key recognition occasions

In other business, the council proclaimed October as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month as well as Domestic Violence Action Month. In addition, Oct. 14 was proclaimed Indigenous Peoples' Day in Bellevue to reflect on the history, contributions and resilience of indigenous people to the benefit of our communities.

Photo Caption: Five women perform in a dress rehearsal of Theatre33's play "Конек-Горбунок (The Little Humpbacked Horse)." Photo by Nina Nikalayeva/Irynka Volkova