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City Council

City Council pumps $5.51M into Scottsdale Arts for annual allocation

Posted 7/14/20

Scottsdale Arts is getting its money for the year, but fewer municipal dollars are flowing to the entertainment and cultural entity.

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City Council

City Council pumps $5.51M into Scottsdale Arts for annual allocation

Posted

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to further clarify the relationship between Scottsdale Arts and other organizations such as the Scottsdale International Film Festival and Scottsdale Philharmonic.

Scottsdale Arts is getting its money for the year, but fewer municipal dollars are flowing to the entertainment and cultural entity.

The Scottsdale City Council approved on consent, at its June 30 meeting, a financial participation agreement for fiscal year 2020-21, allocating about $5.51 million to Scottsdale Arts to use for activities consistent with the management services agreement between the two entities.

The city and Scottsdale Arts has maintained a public-private partnership with Scottsdale Arts being the primary organization for managing arts and cultural activities while also operating certain city-owned facilities and art programs. Scottsdale Arts also promotes the city’s arts and cultural interests at the local, regional, state and federal levels, according to a city staff report to council.

As part of the agreement, Scottsdale Arts acts as a pass-through organization  that  sends money from the city to other arts organizations such as the Scottsdale International Film Festival or Scottsdale Philharmonic, thought they are not part of Scottsdale Arts.

The amount is about $222,000 less than the previous fiscal year and includes a $200,000 drop (down to $550,000) in funding to Scottsdale Arts’ annual event Canal Convergence. It also includes no funding for the Scottsdale International Film Festival, down $32,400 from last year.

The decrease for Canal Convergences comes as plans call for the event to be four days rather than its 10-day stints over the past two years. Furthermore, staff isn’t recommending money for the Scottsdale International Film Festival because there are uncertainties surrounding the event because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The breakdown of the funding is about $4.91 million in General Fund restricted and unrestricted monies and $600,000 in special-revenue funds.

The city will use a one-time payment from the Special Programs Fund --- Community Arts Trust to fund a $50,000 of the $600,000. The rest, which is slated for Canal Convergence, will come from the Tourism Development Fund, which will payout the amount over a four-month period.

The management and administration fee, which is part of the General Fund unrestricted funds, is about $4.04 million, a $16,690 decrease from the previous fiscal year.

A breakdown of the General Fund restricted funds includes:

• $62,730 for the community arts grant program (a $1,230 decrease from last year);

• $125,460 for public art conservation (a $2,460 increase);

• $627,300 for public art administration (a $123,000 increase); and

• $51,000 in specialty equipment (a $1,000 increase).

The community arts trust funds, which is part of the special revenue restricted funds and will go along with the Canal Convergence funding, breakdown includes:

• $30,000 for supplemental for grants program ($10,000 increase);

• $20,000 for Scottsdale Philharmonic (same as last year); and

• No money for Scottsdale International Film Festival (a $32,400 decrease).

The city and Scottsdale Arts have prepared a new management services agreement, which has been in place since 2008, but that won’t come before the City Council until the fall to allow for participation and attendance of Scottsdale Arts staff and board of trustees.

The management services agreement outlines annual city appropriation and allocation plans for certain activities. The city uses an annual financial participation agreement to fund Scottsdale Arts.