Council to Review Arts Center Deficits

The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center is experiencing cash-flow problems and ran up deficits for every month between December 1995 and May 1996, according to a report scheduled for review by the City Council on Monday.

The report, submitted along with the center’s 1996-97 budget, shows that the center took in $11,638 more than it spent between July 1995 and April 1996.

But that profit is credited mostly to income received in October and November 1995, when a city loan still covered the center’s operating expenses. Since then, the center has ended each month with a loss, ranging from $6,212 in January to $723 in February.

Preliminary financial plans for the center predicted that performance receipts would not cover operating costs. Much of the budget is intended to come from the center’s fund-raising drives and endowments, but so far, not enough has come in to erase the monthly deficits.

Steps that have been proposed to improve the center’s financial situation include raising the building’s rental fees and selling more annual memberships. The center, which has already received two loans from the city, may also ask city officials for additional financial help.