To: Debbie Van Saun

From: Regan Gerlt

Date: 1.21.05

Sub: Wichita Arts Funding Proposal

Contact: John D’Angelo, Arts Director    316.262.5221

Currently, between 6.4 and 6.7 million dollars goes to both public and private art organizations within the Wichita community, and about 2 million dollars of that money is given to seven art organizations that have public/private partnerships with the City.  In the past, funds have been distributed on an ad hoc basis based on each organization’s submitted request for funds. 

The City of Wichita is proposing a new plan which will dedicate .76 mills annually to fund art organizations within the community.  The .76 mills, which will produce about 1.9 million dollars, will be used to fund the seven organizations that have established public/private partnerships with the City, and whose buildings are owned by the City.  Each organization’s fund allocation will be equal to their current fund allocation which was set at a flat rate in 1999, with no annual percent increases.  The money being set aside for the art organizations are purely for operating costs and not maintenance costs.  Since the City owns the buildings of the seven organizations, they expect other departments, such as the Public Works department, to budget in the cost of maintaining the buildings.

Art organizations applying for public funding will be classified into the following categories: 

Tier 1: The seven art organizations that have public/private partnerships with the City.

Tier 2: Existing and/or emerging art organizations with operating budgets of $500,000 or more,

Tier 3: Existing and/or emerging art organizations with operating budgets of $500,000 or less.  

Under the plan, each tier 1 organization will continue to receive annually its set fund allocation which was set in 1999, and additional revenues produced above the 1.9 million dollars due to increases in property taxes will go to tier 2 and tier 3 organizations seeking funds.  Note that tier 1 organizations seeking additional funds above their set allocations will fall into either the tier 2 or tier 3 category.  Monies available for tier 2 and tier 3 organizations will be broken on a 60/40 split, with 60 percent being made available to tier 2 organizations and 40 percent being made available for tier 3 organizations.  Allocations will be based on a points system with points being awarded to organizations that demonstrate financial stability, provide performance measures, maintain high attendance rates, and their ability to generate private money.  The council would like to fund organizations that are able to produce a 4 to 1 return on the public dollar from private monies.  The council will vote on the proposal during the February 8^th commission meeting.