Vancouver didn’t cut funding for its arts and culture projects quite as deeply as projected when the city’s 2009 operating budget was approved on April 7.

Amid a financial crunch, staff had recommended a cut of 10 percent, from 2008’s $1.5 million in funding for the civic office of cultural affairs to $1,35 million.

But a new motion by Coun. Heather Deal boosted that amount by $105,000, money that city council agreed to direct toward such projects as expediting work on a much-discussed arm’s-length arts council and developing an incubation hub for creative industries. That leaves the city’s arts department with about $44,000 less than it had last year.