By Paul Rozycki

For the last eight years, Genesee County residents have received free or reduced-cost admission to the area’s major arts and cultural institutions and performances thanks to a countywide arts millage. This year, they will vote on whether to continue that practice…with a few changes.

On August 4, the county’s Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment millage is back on the ballot.

The millage was approved in 2018 and currently provides support for many arts organizations within the Flint Cultural Center, including the Flint Institute of the Arts (FIA), Flint Institute of Music, Sloan Museum of Discovery, Longway Planetarium, and FIM Whiting Auditorium. Funds are also given to the Floyd J. McCree Theatre, Berston Fieldhouse and the Greater Flint Arts Council (GFAC) – with GFAC further distributing funds to a number of other arts organizations throughout the county. 

The funding has allowed Genesee County residents to visit the FIA and Sloan Museum for free and offers large discounts on many other local cultural activities. 

The new arts millage would be .93 mills, a slight reduction in the .96 mills approved in 2018, and estimates are that the new millage would cost the average homeowner about $9 a month and generate about $12.5 million annually, according to reporting from MLive.

Currently, the arts millage is administered through the Flint Cultural Center Foundation, with the great bulk of the funds going toward Cultural Center institutions. While free admission and other arts millage benefits are open to all Genesee County residents, not just those living in Flint, several county commissioners had expressed misgivings about the current funding process. 

So, at its March 18 meeting, the Genesee County Board of Commissioners voted to have the millage dollars flow through them rather than the Flint Cultural Center Foundation, alone. Though details are still being finalized, at the time of the vote the Commission planned to work with or consult the Foundation in order to allocate funding, should the new millage be passed later this year. 

As approved, the renewal would change the funding process when the new millage (if passed) takes effect in 2028.

The discussion around the millage’s fund distribution began last year when Delrico Loyd (D-Flint), Chair of the County Commission, showed concern over how the funds were being allocated. He said that some of the area’s smaller cultural organizations deserved a larger voice and more money, particularly Berston Field House and the McCree Theatre. 

While the millage passed eight years ago with 40,019 voters supporting it, there were also many opposing it: 36,278 to be exact. That outcome revealed a sharp division within different parts of the county. Back then, voters of Flint, Grand Blanc, Fenton, Clio, Linden, Mt. Morris approved the millage and voters in every precinct in the cities of Montrose, Davison and the townships of Argentine, Atlas, Clayton, Forest, Gaines, Montrose, Richfield, Thetford, and Vienna opposed it. 

As recently reported by MLive, those divisions still exist in 2026. 

When the commission discussed the proposed arts millage renewal at its March meeting, it was commissioners Martin Cousineau, (D-Thetford Township), Brian Flewelling (R-Davison), and Shaun Shumaker (R-Fenton Township) who said more of the funds should be available for their constituents in the out-county areas and that many voters in the out county don’t visit the Cultural Center institutions often enough to justify the tax. 

If passed, Shumaker suggested that in the timeframe before the new arts millage takes effect, a committee composed of representatives from the Cultural Center and County Commissioners could make recommendations to the board for future allocations of funds. 

As reported by awarded institutions on Genesee County’s website, in FY 2024 millage funding was allocated in the following manner: 

  • Flint Institute of Arts: $2,108,826 
  • Flint Institute of Music: $4,807,870 
  • Flint Institute of Science and History (Sloan Museum and Longway Planetarium): $2,262,421
  • The Floyd J. McCree Theatre: $530,838
  • GFAC reported distributing $500,000 in millage funds to 24 area arts organizations through its Share Art Genesee Program, as well as receiving an additional .01 mill in funding ($113,185) the year prior to support GFAC programs, like Artwalk, through the year.
  • The Friends of Berston Fieldhouse’s posted reports for 2024 did not list the amount of millage dollars awarded, but later reporting from MLive cited that Berston received “roughly $567,000” in 2025.

While there is some controversy over the current funding procedure, the millage does offer benefits to all county residents. 

As outlined on the millage’s website, all Genesee County residents receive free general admission to the Sloan Museum of Discovery and FIA; 50 percent off Longway Planetarium admission; 30-50 percent off tickets for FIM live performances and programs – including those at FIM Capitol Theatre, FIM Whiting Auditorium, FIM Flint Repertory Theatre, and FIM Flint Symphony Orchestra; 10 percent discount on classes and $20 registration fee waived at FIM Flint School of Performing Arts; access to events, programs and activities at more than 20 local Genesee County nonprofit arts organizations sponsored by GFAC; free arts and crafts and performing arts programming, fitness and sports activities, and community programs at Berston Field House; up to 60 percent off tuition at Creative Expressions Dance Studio at Berston Field House; and low-ticket prices for live performances and free documentary screenings and youth programs at the McCree Theatre.  

The same website also outlines some of the economic benefits that the arts bring to Genesee County – citing a 2022 report by Americans for the Arts outlining $54.9 million spent by arts organizations; $74.6 million in audience spending at arts events; and $19.8 million in tax revenue for local, state, and federal governments for the fiscal year. The site also quotes local arts educators’ and community leaders’ support for the millage, including Community Foundation of Greater Flint President and CEO Dan Kildee, who said, “The Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage is a powerful investment in our shared future.”  

The millage vote in 2018 was a win for the arts in Genesee County, but it was close and revealed area divisions, both over the funding allocation process and who it benefits most. While final details of the new proposal are to be worked out in the future, it seems the idea is that by including elected county commissioners in the process, the support will be there for the future of the county’s arts millage. 

One of the branding statements of the Flint Institute of Arts is “art brings us together.” Let’s hope that can be true for everyone in Genesee County even with divisive election-year politics.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in East Village Magazine’s May 2026 issue.