Budgeting for 2010 has started in earnest. All Provincial Direct Access grants are currently "frozen" until further notice and an expected 40% cut to the BC Arts Council budget is coming in September (not all of which will affect funding as the BCAC trimmed expenses through its own staff restructuring). This probably means our supplemental cheque received from BCAC in the spring is either all or most of the funding we will receive until 2011. Still, we don't rely as heavily on these annual grants as some other cultural organizations. The economic downturn has taken some time to reach us but we are in a good position to weather the storm. Tourism is actually up over this time last year and the BC Heritage Federation Conference generated a higher than expected profit. Remedial work done to the facility's boilers have seen our gas bills go down by almost 50% - a great savings that will, in part, help make up for the expected loss of traditional provincial funding.
Through meticulous financial oversight and by keeping expenses under control we should be in a solid position to come in on budget this year and start the new year with a positive outlook.
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