CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga Arts and Culture earned scattered applause Wednesday when the public agency’s five-member board awarded $10.7 million in grants to arts organizations and community projects for 2024.

But most of CAC’s nearly two-hour meeting at the downtown branch of the Cleveland Public Library was taken up by bitter arguments over how the agency is managing a 50% drop in revenues from cigarette taxes — the agency’s source of income — since the excise tax began in 2007.