[Dixielandjazz] Sacramento Jubilee News

[WILLIAM HORTON]

The following is from the sacramento Bee of Oct. 7.  It's not made clear
what the "other programs" are.  Perhaps programs sponsored by the club, such
as the jazz camps and monthly concerts?

Bill Horton
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subject: Jazz News - Jubilee in debt, seeks big city loan

By Terri Hardy -- Bee Staff Writer (edited)
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 7, 2003
A private organization that operates the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, in deep
financial straits for years, is asking for a loan of up to $250,000 from the
city to help it get on firmer fiscal footing, officials said Monday.
The proposed bailout would get the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society out
of its immediate jam by helping to pay off $270,000 in debts -- most of that
unpaid bills to vendors incurred during May's Jazz Jubilee. City employees
are working with the nonprofit group to hammer out ways to pare down debt so
it can work toward long-term financial health, said Barbara Bonebrake,
director of the city's Convention, Culture and Leisure Department.
The city expects the organization to raise ticket prices -- which ranged
from $8 to $92 this year -- for the Jubilee by approximately 4 percent and
to reduce the number of bands, Bonebrake said. She said she believes the
loan is a good city investment, and she will recommend that the City Council
approve the request at its meeting Thursday. The low-interest loan would be
paid back over 5 years.
"The city believes the Jazz Jubilee is important, a major event in
Sacramento," Bonebrake said. "Other communities would be interested in it,
and we're interested in keeping it."
Although Bonebrake said there has been no talk of the Jubilee relocating,
she said "there was always that potential" and the risk of losing the
festival was considered when city officials evaluated the loan request. If a
loan is given, the Jazz Society will commit to keeping the Jubilee in
Sacramento through 2015, five years more than required in an existing
agreement.
The Jazz Society has hosted the venerable Jazz Jubilee for 29 years over
Memorial Day weekend. Less well-known are the other programs put on by the
Jazz Society, including jazz camps for kids and concerts.
Traditionally, the Jazz Jubilee makes about $2 million a year and pays for
itself, while the other programs have run at a deficit, according to Linda
Foley, the Jazz Society's board president, and Roger Krum, the group's
executive director.
Krum said he only has direct control of the Jubilee and that the other
programs are operated by the group's 15-member board. The board meets
monthly.
"It's been pointed out that those programs are not doing well, and the board
has elected to keep them going and take (money) from reserve," Krum said.
"Recently the focus has been to ensure that they become self-sufficient and
that's where we're arriving. It's a positive step."
Foley said the decision to run money-losing programs was made years ago by a
previous board. The latest financial statement available to the public shows
that those programs were losing money in 2001. Foley was V.Pres. of the
board.
The Society's problems worsened in 2002 when admissions to the Jubilee fell
short of expectations, causing a severe economic blow because there was no
financial cushion to pay for other programs, Krum and Foley said.
Foley didn't know details of the proposed city loan and wasn't familiar with
a bank loan the Jazz Society took out in 2000, which has a balance of
$84,000. Despite the Jazz Society's history of financial difficulties, Foley
said she did not feel the board should be providing tighter oversight on
operations. "That would be micromanaging," Foley said.
The board of directors gave Krum its approval to seek a loan. A new budget
that maps out the higher admission costs and fewer Jubilee bands will go to
the Jazz Society's board later this month, Foley said.
Neither Krum nor Foley said that fewer bands would mean a lesser-quality
Jubilee. Krum said that several venues had been operating at 60 percent
occupancy and the number of bands probably could have been cut in recent
years. It was unclear how much money was in the Jazz Society's reserves.
Krum said it had "absolutely no reserve" while Foley said she though there
was about $70,000 in the Jazz Society's coffers. Bonebrake said the city's
examination of the Jazz Society's books showed about $125,000.
Administrative costs run up to $40,000 per month, said Vivian Abraham, the
Jazz Society's business manager. The Jubilee generates $28 million a year in
extra income for the region, dollars spent in hotels, shops and restaurants,
as well as in sales and hotel occupancy taxes, Krum said.
City Councilman Ray Tretheway, whose district includes the Old Sacramento
area, where many of the Jubilee events are held, said he thinks the loan
makes sense. The city has helped out other businesses and nonprofits with
loans and city officials will help the Jazz Society put together a business
plan "based on real-world numbers," Tretheway said......end....