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Up until about fifteen years ago, the City of
Pittsburgh provided *very* modest support for the
original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular
Science, as well as other museums such as Carnegie
Institute. Allegheny County also provided some modest
support.

At the same time, there were three facilities that
were wholly-owned and operated by the City of
Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Conservatory-Aviary, Highland
Park Zoo, and Phipps Consservatory.

Although, back in the 1970s, the Zoo had been a
partnership between the City and Zoological Society;
but, the Mayor, at that time, decided the City should
operate the Zoo exclusively. I consider this was a
major mistake on the part of the City. And, a good
friend lost his job at the Zoo, when his Uncle's
concession was terminated.

This support of museums and cultural organizations
ended, somewhat abruptly, fifteen years ago, as the
City of Pittsburgh could no longer support any of
these institutions. The wholly-owned institutions were
"spun-off" into private institutions [although,
legally, the City still owns the actual facilities].

And, today, the National Aviary [Congressional
designation, *without* Federal funding, similar to the
National Aquarium in Baltimore], Pittsburgh Zoo, and
Phipps Conservatory are all doing much better than
they did under City sponsorship, although it did take
several years of hard work [particularly for the
Aviary] to reach this point. In fact, all three
institutions are involved in expansion projects
[although some expansion projects are not as large as
the institution would like].

Up until a decade ago, when City funding of museums
dropped to nearly nothing and County funding was
minor, City and County officials did see the need to
find a new funding source for these cultural
institutions, also including libraries and parks.

So, during a lame-duck session in November of 1993,
the Pennsylvania General Assembly approved enabling
legislation that allowed Counties of the Second Class
[i.e. Allegheny County] to set-up a "Regional Asset
District" that would distribute funds from a 0.5 per
cent sales tax in Allegheny County, added onto the
Commonwealth's six per cent sales and use tax.

Actually, the General Assembly approved a one per cent
sales tax for Allegheny County. Half of the proceeds
would be distributed by the Regional Asset District
while the other half would be a form of revenue
sharing for the 130 municipalities in Allegheny
County, as well as for the County itself.

The proceeds directed to the municipalities required
the reduction of property taxes, the elimination of
"nuisance" taxes [such as the Personal Property Tax
that had been levied by the County], and the 50 per
cent reduction in the City's 10 per cent Amusement
Tax. And, it was these tax reductions that assured
passage of the bill.

Even though it was a lame-duck session, without the
"tax reform" measures in the bill, it probably would
not have passed the General Assembly. And, this "tax
reform" is probably the main reason why Act 77 of 1993
has never been repealed--even though there are a lot
of people who continue to oppose this increase in the
sales tax!

For ten years now, the Allegheny Regional Asset
District
< http://radworkshere.org >
has been distributing the proceeds of half of the one
per cent sales tax levied in Allegheny County
[usually, the proceeds are around $75 million each
year] to libraries, parks, museums, other cultural
institutions and arts groups, and sports facilities
[and the support of the two new stadia, for the
Pirates and Steelers, has been *very, very*
controvesial]. Libraries receive the greatest support
and libraries and parks combined receive more than
half of the total allocation.

So, this is how Pittsburgh has dealt with the problem
of funding museums and other "regional assets." I
certainly have no idea if such a solution would work
in Fort Collins.

>However, there have
>been years where funding was so scarce, we almost
>closed the doors.

I certainly understand this. I served on the Board of
Trustees of a small public library [Andrew Carnegie
Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania,
a suburb of Pittsburgh], and the library almost closed
twice during my five-year tenure. Funding from the
Allegheny Regional Asset District [RAD] is one of the
main reasons the Library was able to stay open.

All muncipalities today are having financial problems,
a big change from the glory days of the 1990s. It
sounds to me like the City of Fort Collins is looking
ahead to the time when they may no longer be able to
financially operate the history museum, hence the
proposal for a partnership.

Usually, cities do not have too much trouble raising
funds for capital projects, such as the proposed joint
museum. Usually, they acquire State funds for these
projects, under the rationale that they promote
"economic development."

However, operating costs, once a new building is
completed, is a completely different problem. If I
were you, I would not anticipate much operating
assistance from the City. Perhsps the City will
legally own the building and agree to maintain the
building's fixed costs; but, do not expect much more.

So, you need to evaluate the market conditions in Fort
Collins, to determine how large a facility you should
build.

And, remember, museums are also having financial
problems in this country today. Last year, two
planetaria [U.S. Air Force Academy Planetarium in
Colorado Springs and COSI Planetarium in Columbus,
Ohio] were mothballed indefinitely, due to financial
problems. In the case of COSI, they also closed about
20 per cent of a fairly new facility [which had cost
$200+ million to build] to the public, last year,
after a proposed tax levy failed. And, a new city
history museum in Washington DC [housed in a historic
Carnegie Library building] is being mothballed this
year, except for rental events.

A joint partnership of the two museums in Fort Collins
may be the best way for both to survive. However, just
remember that you still have to plan for market
conditions in Fort Collins for such a facility. If the
institution gets into financial trouble, do not expect
much help from the City, as the City would probably
have little money to help you.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] > 
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://www.planetarium.cc > 
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: 
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer & Optician John A. Brashear: 
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com > 
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: 
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc > 
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://www.incline.cc >


		
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