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Poway council struggles with PCPA costs

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For the second time this year, Poway City Council members have struggled to find ways to chip away at the large city subsidy needed to keep the doors to the Poway Center for the Performing Arts open.

Following more than an hour of discussion, the council voted 4-1 on Nov. 17 not to proceed with a proposal to increase by between 25 and 35 percent the fees charged to non-profits and for-profits for use of the city-owned center, on the Poway High School campus. With Councilman John Mullin dissenting, the council majority concluded that before rates are hiked for dance recitals, children’s plays and related uses the city should reach out to both the school district and the center’s nonprofit foundation to discuss readjusting cost sharing agreements.

The matter will come back to the council in February, once the other two PCPA partners are contacted.

The center, built with redevelopment funds and opened 25 years ago, will generate about $400,000 in revenue this year against $1.1 million in expenses, according to Recreation Supervisor Kelcie Kopf. The difference, about $700,000, comes from the city.

Meeting on Aug. 18, councilmembers said they were comfortable having the city subsidize the center at a rate of 60 percent, noting that municipal theaters are often government-supported agencies. That said, the council expressed interest in both trimming operating expenses where applicable and especially in identifying new revenues sources. Ideas mentioned at the time included offering naming rights to the center, opening a part-time or full-time restaurant on-site and added $1 or $2 to the ticket usage fee.

Last week Kopf, who started with the city earlier this year, returned with a series of recommendations related to hourly rental and staff fees. Hourly rates for staff services have not been increased in some time, she said, and often were not passed on to the rental client.

Kopf suggested the higher fees be implemented next fall and be phased in over several years to ease the burden on the non-profits. She projected the new rates would increase revenues by around $38,000 annually,

Representatives of several of those groups spoke at the meeting against the raises, noting that their shoestring budgets would be seriously impacted by fee increases.

The suggestion that some non-profit groups might look elsewhere for a theater caught the attention of Councilman Jim Cunningham, who noted “There are a lot of moving parts for $38,000.”

Meanwhile, Councilmen Barry Leonard and Dave Grosch focused on the fact that the center is closed in July and August and on Mondays.

“What else can we do during the dark times?” Leonard asked.

Mullin inquired about why more weddings aren’t booked into the center. Kopf said community uses ranked third in rental priority, behind the school district and OnStage, the new marketing name of the PCPA Foundation. Community bookings extend only three months — not nearly enough time for planning the typical wedding, she said.

Mullin and City Manager Dan Singer pressed the council to approve the non-proft/for-profit rate increases, but they could get no traction with the others. Mayor Steve Vaus said taking a more “holistic approach” by first reaching out to the PUSD and OnStage, made more sense.

Talks regarding cost sharing formulas are in the preliminary stages with the school district, Community Services Director Robin Bettin said, while those with OnStage are likely to begin after the first of the year.

In other matters, the council:

• Was told that the city closed out the 2014-15 fiscal year on June 30 with a general fund operating surplus of $2.25 million, plus another $1.29 million in one-time revenues. The $3.14 million was placed in the unappropriated fund balance. Despite increased revenues, all city departments came in under budget expenditure projections, according to Peter Moote, the acting director of administrative services.

• Approved a conditional use permit for an automobile body repair shop at 12675 Stowe Drive.

• Heard from Assistant Manager Tina White that Gov. Jerry Brown will probably extend state-mandated water conservation measures through next October. The current rules were to expire in February.

• Reluctantly approved state-mandated changes to the municipal code pertaining to water-efficient landscape and irrigation standards.

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