Center looking to slash its costs

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Arts Center leaders signaled Tuesday that they’re tightening the purse strings on the financially troubled museum as it prepares to enter a new fiscal year July 1.

If projected revenue doesn’t materialize within 60 days, board Treasurer Ellen Vangilder said, trustees will consider layoffs, furloughs and decreasing retirement plan contributions during a time when staff morale is already low.

In a special-call meeting Tuesday afternoon, center trustees voted to accept a provisional $6.4 million budget for fiscal year 2011, which starts next week. The center will end this fiscal year with a $1.7 million operating loss.

But trustees will revisit the budget in two months, and if income doesn’t meet expectations, “drastic measures” will be taken, Vangilder said.

“In 60 days, I want one sixth of the revenue in for the year,” she said. “I want an aggressive position for getting money in the door. We can’t wait four months or six months into the year to make moves. We have to manage this more timely.”

Several trustees participated in the hastily called meeting by conference call.

The center’s recently hired finance chief Laine Harber promised “maniacal expense control” in the coming months. He said he’ll be reviewing the museum’s expenses to find potential savings.

Harber replaced longtime Chief Financial Officer Rocky Nickles, who was fired in January. Nickles’ performance is still under review.

Some trustees expressed concern that museum executives have been overly optimistic in their projections for donations. The budget calls for $2.55 million in donations in fiscal year 2011 - a $1 million increase from 2010.

The 2011 budget includes payments of more than $200,000 toward the $2.3 million the museum owes the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation. The foundation, a nonprofit that holds title to the museum’s art and provides much of its funding, extended three emergency lines of credit during the past year.

Much of the debt was taken on because of disappointing attendance of the World of the Pharaohs exhibit.

Center leaders originally estimated that 300,000 people would see the show, which opened Sept. 25 and runs through July 5. At $22 for an adult ticket, the show was expected to generate millions in revenue.

Trustee Lisa Baxter questioned several of the new budget’s revenue projections, including an expected 22 percent increase in children’s theater ticket sales and an anticipated $65,000 increase in membership dues.

“That’s just a huge increase in ticket sales,” Baxter said. “Convince me how you’re going to get that.”

Museum staff explained that the center hopes to retain support from people who became members after they visited the World of the Pharaohs exhibit and that the center will soon offer the option of monthly debits for membership dues.

But Baxter wasn’t convinced.

“I think these are all fabulous strategies, and I do so appreciate everyone’s hard work. It’s just I think this budget is so close and these numbers are making me so nervous,” she said.

Trustee Chucki Bradbury echoed Baxter’s reservations. The two cast the only votes against the budget Tuesday, but agreed that revisiting the budget in two months is a good idea.

“We have 10 percent unemployment, and we really aren’t looking at that changing this year,” Bradbury said. “I don’t think you’re being realistic about the economy we’re going to be facing this year. It doesn’t look any better this year.”