Opening of the new Mahara Gallery is not far away. Photo / David Haxton
Opening of the new Mahara Gallery is not far away. Photo / David Haxton
A significant financial shortfall in the increased operating costs of the new Mahara Gallery should have been addressed in earlier Long-Term Plan (LTP) discussions, a review has revealed.
The finishing touches are being applied to the new districtwide gallery in Waikanae which is expected to open to the public in the middle of the year.
Upgrading of the old gallery, which opened in 1996, has been in the pipeline since the Mahara Gallery Trust, in about 2010, identified the need to revamp the gallery to better accommodate collections and exhibitions.
One of the key reasons for the upgrade stemmed from the gifting of the Field Collection of artworks, which included a number of works by famous painter Frances Hodgkins.
But housing the prized collection meant certain needs had to be met, including better security, and climate control.
A lot of attention has been on the $6.5 million rebuild, not the day-to-day operating costs that will begin once the new gallery is operational.
Operating costs for the old gallery had been about $219,000 a year and were mostly met through a council grant.
But the new gallery’s operating costs will be a lot higher per year because of “more staff effort, energy, security, insurance, depreciation and other operating costs”, said a Kāpiti Coast District Council internal review of the gallery’s operational funding, noting the increase was identified at a council committee meeting in 2010.
“The trust estimates the new operating cost to be around $704,000 but with $60,000 funded through sponsorship and other non-council revenue.
“There is some uncertainty around the exact nature and costs of the gallery’s operation, and officers consider the shortfall in budget is likely to be between $325,000 and $400,000.
“This equates to around 0.5 per cent increase in rates.”
The review said the costs should have been identified and resolved through the 2021-4 LTP “where tradeoff and funding decisions are made around service levels”.
“However this didn’t occur, and there is no obvious reason for the omission.
Artist impression of the new Mahara Gallery. Image / Athfield Architects
“At the time the focus was on the construction of the new asset and the omission of operating costs increases appears to have been an oversight.
“On February 15, 2022 the trust wrote to the council identifying the shortfall and seeking to discuss how this might be addressed.”
Council officers identified the Government’s Better Off funding was available. They recommended funding the gallery for three years at $1.2m.
But council’s strategy and operations committee didn’t accept the recommendation and decided to provide the gallery with one year of funding worth $400,000.
The review said while the gallery is funded from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, its funding beyond that would be subject to the 2024 LTP.
“This presents a difficulty for the trust in recruiting staff and other contractual commitments.
“If no substantial funding is available from July 1, 2024, the trust will need to reduce the level of service provided.
“In practice this means a new facility will not be able to deliver on its potential.
“Officers are currently engaged with the trust to work through potential courses of action.”
The key findings were that operating costs were not identified through the LTP, and that elected members were not aware of the operating impact of the new gallery.
The review recommended that the “LTP business case template includes opex implications of any capital investment” and “that emerging issues be shared with elected members as early as possible via the briefing/meeting forward programme that is already established”.
