By Pepper Parr
February 10, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The city’s Tax Stabilization fund got clipped for $140,000 this morning.
The Tax Stabilization find is the account that any surplus from the previous budget goes into. As of today there was an uncommitted balance of $4,003,163 so the $140,000 that was handed over to the Art Gallery of Burlington didn’t leave that much of a dent.
With the city budget about to be debated – why hand out $140,000 now? That amount is to cover the 2014 shortfall that was the result of a number of items. In their delegation to the Community and Corporate Services Standing Committee this morning Anne Swarbrick and Sandra Edrup set the financial scene.
Management problems prevailed in 2014.
In January 2015, Art Gallery of Burlington staff met with Mayor Goldring, Councilor Taylor, and the Director of Finance to discuss their financial challenges. They had spent more money than they had in the bank. The major factors contributing to this deficit include:
Lower participation rates than forecast in educational programs.
Lower corporate and membership results than targeted in enterprise programs including lower catering and room rental revenues and the cancellation of the Creativity Forum due to insufficient registrations.
Lower than targeted sales revenues from Art Inc.
Increased staffing costs as a result of the installation of the new HVAC system.
We understood the first three items – but we are really pressed to see the relationship between “increased staffing costs” and “the new HVAC system” but no one on Council saw this as a problem.
This request was in fact a done deal – the delegation was just to give the transfer of the $140,000 a sheen of legitimacy.
The possible reason for the $140,000 loss might be related to some degree to the firing of the former President and CEO of the Art Gallery of Burlington. In the pleadings to Council the AGB said: “As a result of a combination of factors flowing from the issues referenced above, and re-organizational initiatives undertaken to correct them, the Gallery is currently undergoing a process in order to manage and plan for 2015 pressures.
They added: “As you will appreciate, the Board of Directors has increased their oversight of the AGB until such challenges can be resolved, including organizational review efforts that are now underway with the assistance of an excellent external consultant whom we have been able to recruit with no additional financial pressure on the organization’s resources
He had been with the art gallery for more than 15 years – suddenly he is gone.
There was no thank you, certainly no golden watch – but there appears, we are unable to confirm this, to have been a financial settlement which was not made public. Ross is gone, a search committee was created, advertisements were run, resumes received; the 35 that came in cut down to 9 out of which the Search Committee will settle on a short list of at least three.
Ann Swarbrick, former MPP in the Bob Rae government and now the Interim President CEO of the Art Gallery of Burlington has shown she knows how to call in favours.
Interviews will take place in March; the search committee hopes to announce their choice in April. Asked if there were going to be any woman on that short list and we were given “the look”: With Anne Swarbrick and Sandra Edrup on the search committee you know there is going to be at least one female on the list – even if it has to be a male that underwent a medical intervention.
In their delegation Swarbrick and Sandra Edrupt. Chair of the Board of Directors, said: “The Art Gallery is currently undergoing a change management process including reorganization initiatives to manage and plan for 2015 pressures.
The Art Gallery of Burlington has an accumulated deficit of $140,000 from their 2014 operations which represents 5.7% of their total 2014 operating budget of $2,453,450. The city gave the AGB a grant of $790,685 in 2014.
The AGB Foundation has allocated $160,500 to the gallery to support the 2015 programs, which will leave the Foundation with a balance in their reserve fund of approximately $65,000. These funds are ear marked for non-recurring and known costs they will face in 2015.
The gallery itself does not have a reserve – which is skating on pretty thin ice.
The financials given to the Standing Committee that approved the $140,000 payment for the 2014 shortfall looked like this:
REVENUE SUMMARY
Year-end Budget
City of Burlington – Operating Grant 790,685 790,685
Provincial funds
Ontario Arts Council 47,500 50,000
-Ontario Trillium Fund 4,508
Federal funds
Human Resource Canada 2,518 3,000
Earned Revenues
Education Fees 272,485 346,000
Art Etc Gallery Shop 525,737 660,500
Rental, Events, Memberships 438,107 355,765
AGB Foundation Grant 158,500 158,500
AGB Foundation/OAC Foundation 23,695 15,000
AGB Foundation/BCFoundation 13,111
TOTAL REVENUES 2,276,846 2,379,450
EXPENSE SUMMARY
Exhibitions 206,640 214,490
Education and Outreach 286,408 316,777
Enterprise/Marketing 331,433 172,751
Art Etc Gallery Shop 497,865 566,520
Administration 365,893 402,084
Occupancy and Maintenance 728,563 706,828
TOTAL EXPENSES 2,416,802 2,379,450
Net deficiency of revenue over expenditures (139,956)
The numbers tell the story. Fail to meet the objectives and there is always that Tax Stabilization to save the day. The prime question is – why did it take so long to see where the damage was being done?
I also fail to see how HVAC can increase staff costs. This facility has been a great burden on tax payers for many years and I doubt that we are getting value for money. It will be interesting to see what AGB and BPAC will cost us in 2015
Sounds like another black hole with tax dollars being shoveled in every year. If it cannot stand on it’s own do we really need it?
You stated in your article “With Anne Swarbrick and Sandra Edrup on the search committee you know there is going to be at least one female on the list – even if it has to be a male that underwent a medical intervention.”
Mr Parr or should I say Ms Parr,
When will your medical intervention be completed?
Why no profile on the BPAC – Burlington Performing Arts Center that is getting close to 1 million dollars a year from the city taxpayer as a subsidy to cover loses
This is a very unprofessional and inappropriate statement – tabloid journalism.
“Asked if there were going to be any woman on that short list and we were given “the look”: With Anne Swarbrick and Sandra Edrup on the search committee you know there is going to be at least one female on the list – even if it has to be a male that underwent a medical intervention.”
Seems the AGB spent their overruns in the name change from the BAC. Was it worth it?