The Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives’ financial woes were laid bare during the museum’s annual general meeting, April 19.
According to its financial statement, the museum spent nearly $46,000 more than it brought in in 2015, although more than $27,000 of that can be attributed to the depreciation of its building and equipment.
According to its statement of operations, the museum generated $10,000 less in revenue compared to 2014, but also managed to cut its expenses by about $39,000, largely due to a $29,000 drop in maintenance and repair costs.
While the financial picture for 2015 appears somewhat brighter than the previous year, the overall trend is cause for concern.
Over a two-year period, the museum’s deficit ballooned to $120,102, including $54,761 that can be attributed to the depreciation of the building and equipment.
In 2013, the society recorded a surplus of just over $64,000 mainly due to a one-off fundraising campaign to raise $100,000 to replace the museum’s roof. Without the fundraiser the society would have faced another $36,000 deficit, including amortization.
“This year is a little better than normal, but one troubling trend that we have is that we’re not propping up our reserves, we did in the past to a great extent when our expenses were lower and our fundraising team was a lot more vigorous, but right now most of our fundraising is going right into our operations, it never makes it into the rainy day reserves,” said Warren Waxer, the former treasurer and newly-elected president of the Jasper Yellowhead Historical Society.
“This is not to say fundraising hasn’t been vigorous and it has been. Last year $43,000 was raised, which is about $4,000 more than the year before,” he said, explaining nearly 30 per cent of the museum’s revenue comes from donations, fundraising, admissions and fees.
“I think that’s the good news story, that we have the support and we are working to pay our way, there’s no doubt about that, but I think we’ve got to look to the future and the future is definitely going to include long-term and project-based support from the corporate community. It’s the only other avenue that we really haven’t explored.”
Waxer acknowledged that the museum’s expenses will also have to be cut for it to become financially viable.
“But there’s only so far you can cut and still provide the service. We really have to put our effort into more revenue,” said Waxer.
Adding to the museum’s financial woes, it lost a $20,000 grant from the Alberta Museum Association in 2015 and in early April the municipality refused to approve $49,000 in funding until the museum presents a business plan to council—as was requested in January.
Complicating matters, the municipality is slated to vote on the 2016 operating budget next week, on May 3.
Herb Robinson, the former president of the historical society, appeared before council April 5. He said the museum intends to present a three-year strategic plan before council votes on the budget.
“We dropped the ball,” said Robinson, explaining the board lost a long-time treasurer, a bookkeeper and a chair of the finance committee all within quick succession.
“I didn’t want to go to the meeting to be honest with you because I knew we didn’t have a plan, but we’ve committed to getting one in front of council as soon as we can,” he said, in reference to the council meeting he attended with Andy Klimach, manager of the museum.
“It’s not that we expect money to come as clockwork and we certainly don’t take taxpayers’ dollars for granted, but there were a couple of mitigating circumstances.”
During the council meeting on April 19, Mark Fercho, the town’s chief administrative officer, advised council that they should include the $49,000 expenditure in the upcoming budget if they intend to approve the funding down the road.
Since 2005, the municipality has provided the museum with $433,454 in funding, with annual payments ranging from $25,000 in 2005 to $47,235 in 2015. There was also an exceptional year, in 2011, where the municipality provided $56,000 in funding.
According to Robinson, the strategic plan the museum intends to present to council will include a plan to become financially sustainable and return to a balanced budget within the next two years.
“We’re probably never going to be self-sustainable, but we certainly can be sustainable and I don’t think that’s a goal we should lose sight of,” said Robinson.
He floated several ideas to increase revenue, such as tapping into corporate donations, increasing admission prices and/or increasing rental prices for events at the museum.
During the meeting, the board voted to increase its annual membership fee for an individual by $5 to $30 a year. The museum currently has 251 members, slightly down from the previous year.
“We need as a society to do a better job of educating our stakeholders, and our public and town council about the support we might need. We do a lot of great things here and we’re not doing a very great job of promoting it or publicizing it,” said Robinson, challenging the audience to think about how the museum benefits the community.
“Cost cutting has got its purpose and of course it’s important to be on the ball to make sure you’re watching costs, but at what point are you no longer a museum and archives if you’re only looking at the bottom line?”
Paul Clarke
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