Arlington Heights OKs new Metropolis deal with more money, oversight
Arlington Heights trustees unanimously approved a new agreement with the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre on Monday that will maintain annual subsidies but require more oversight from the village and more transparency from the theater.
“This is the culmination of many, many months of work, cooperation, collaboration and a little give and take on both sides,” said Mayor Tom Hayes. “All parties have shown a desire to work together for the benefit of the community as a whole and Metropolis specifically.”
The biggest source of disagreement was whether a newly created reserve account for Metropolis should be controlled by the village or the theater. The account will hold village-contributed funds and act as a cushion for Metropolis in case of an underperforming show or lower-than-expected contributions.
With the account in village hands, Metropolis will need approval from the village manager to access the funds. Staff recommended putting the reserve account in the hands of Metropolis, but the village board unanimously agreed with trustees Bert Rosenberg and John Scaletta, who said the village should retain control of the reserve money for now.
“I feel there has been significant change, especially from the financial and operational side. We look forward to seeing more continued success in the future. But, I feel very strongly that the village should maintain control of that reserve account,” Rosenberg said.
The two sides went to work on the new agreement after the village board in the fall gave Metropolis a $450,000 bailout to keep the theater from having to close its doors. That sparked a communitywide debate about whether the village should continue to fund the arts center that has had a negative cash balance every year since the village purchased the building a decade ago.
Trustees have said they hope to keep Metropolis open, but want to see it be more financially sustainable in the future.
Scaletta said it will take time for trustees to trust Metropolis after years of financial mismanagement and incomplete reporting.
“Putting (the reserve account) in their name immediately is not in the best interest of the village,” Scaletta said. “We have an opportunity right now to put Metropolis on the right track. We have to do everything we can to make sure Metropolis is set up for success.”
For the shortened fiscal year ending Dec. 31, the reserve fund will hold $18,000, but plans call for the village contribute $83,000 in each of the fiscal years to follow.
The board will review the reserve account during the village budget process in 2016 and see if they are ready to hand the reins over to Metropolis.
The reserve fund is just one way the village is subsidizing Metropolis.
For the fiscal year running from May 1 through Dec. 31, the village will contribute $206,500 to Metropolis' operating expenses to help the theater break even. The amount of the annual subsidy will change from year to year, officials said.
A study earlier this year showed Metropolis brings $3 million in direct spending to Arlington Heights, but also said that a theater like Metropolis can expect to always require some level of village funding to succeed.
The village agreement approved Monday also outlines new rules for village oversight. Each month a village liaison will receive updated financial reports, and at the end of each quarter the newly configured Metropolis board will provide the village with a memo describing its quarterly financial and operational results.
New Metropolis Executive Director Joe Keefe said this is all just part of the rebuilding process.
“I hope to come back to you in a year or 18 months and convince you even more once we've gained more of your trust. That's my job,” Keefe told the board on Monday. “The more autonomy we can have in the future, the better off we will be, but we have to prove we deserve that.”