HUNTINGTON BEACH : Art Center Will Get Less Than Expected

A tight city budget means that the Art Center will likely get $150,000 less than expected and that the hours its employees work will be cut.

Community Services Director Ron Hagan on Monday presented the City Council with a revised budget proposal of $400,000, down from a $550,000 plan that would allow the Art Center to operate six days a week with five full-time staff members.

The smaller budget allows for two full-time staff members and three employees working a 30-hour week. Two part-time positions would be eliminated.

Councilman Peter M. Green, who in the past has expressed concerns about the city’s financial contribution to the Art Center, praised the scaled-back budget proposal.

“I think they’ve made a lot of progress in the right direction,” he said of the center’s officials. “The city’s contribution will not increase over last year’s,” he said, and the center will move closer to being “a private, nonprofit organization with its own staff, which is what I wanted.”

Because of fiscal constraints, Hagan said, the city can contribute only $81,000 toward the center’s operations. About $100,000 would be generated through admission fees, classes, workshops, tours, store sales, memberships, grants and sponsorships, he said. The Art Center Foundation, the private fund-raising arm, would contribute $221,000.

The foundation already has raised about $1 million for the Art Center. Of that amount, about $840,000 was used for construction costs of the facility, which opened in March.

Hagan said that the smaller budget would mean calling on volunteers more frequently but that scheduled programs and exhibits would not be affected.

The budget proposal will be considered by the council at Monday’s meeting, and, if adopted, would take effect Oct. 1.

The council also will consider directing city staff to prepare an agreement that outlines long-term goals and obligations of the city and Art Center Foundation.