Representatives from the Center of Anna Maria Island asked Anna Maria commissioners to spend $28,000 on youth programs and left the June 13 meeting with a commitment for $21,000.
The commission voted 5-0 for the payment to the center from its fiscal 2018-19 budget.
Before the vote, Chris Culhane, executive director of the center, reviewed the nonprofit’s financial situation and commissioners and Mayor Dan Murphy discussed the municipal budget.
Culhane also brought a young speaker to the microphone to help convince commissioners of the benefits of the center.
“I have been going to the center ever since I was born,” 7-year-old Dylan Sato said.
Dylan said he plays soccer and T-ball at the center, along with watching his dad, Jason Sato, play sports.
Culhane said he wanted to show commissioners how important the center is to families and to emphasize how important Anna Maria’s funding is to the center and its youth programs.
Murphy said the city changed a budget classification from charitable funding to recreational funding, which is where the city draws money for events, including the Memorial Day observance and the upcoming July 4 celebration in City Pier Park.
The city set the recreational fund allocation at $31,000 for fiscal 2018-19, which ends Sept. 30. After the July 4 celebration, the fund will have $21,000, which the mayor said could go to the center, and commissioners agreed.
The center operates on a July 1-June 30 fiscal year. No request was made for city funding for the center’s 2019-20 fiscal year.