How to Cut $5 Million from the ASO Budget in One Easy Step | by Robbie Reports
It took an open records request and a comparison of numbers across four different sources, but it appears that I have finally found out how much the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (VWA) costs the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO). I have mentioned before that the financial statements available from the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC) are not clear enough to tease out the real costs related to the various activities of the ASO. I pointed out that the funding model used for the VWA broke from the approaches used for other capital development projects that the WAC has undertaken and that it has resulted in a large financial burden for the ASO. I have also already discussed the fact that there seem to be conflicts of interest among many on the WAC’s Board of Governors when it comes to the VWA and that these conflicts of interest may be preventing them from putting the ASO’s interests first when it comes to decisions relating to that property.
The Woodruff Arts Center leadership has repeatedly stated that the ASO has been running deficits for the past 12 years. That coincides with the WAC’s incorporation of what appears to be a shell company, Encore Park for the Arts, and purchasing the land for the VWA from one of its board member’s companies, Cousins Properties. In 2007, when the WAC issued the bonds for the VWA project, they held a credit rating of AA3 from Moody’s. Since then, their bond ratings have been downgraded twice and, just last year, Moody’s issued a statement downgrading the WAC’s outlook, suggesting that another downgrade is likely. The principal reasons given for this are the ASO’s accumulated deficits and the WAC’s accumulated debt. It is hard to imagine that the debt from the VWA is not related to this — indeed, that is likely part of the reason why the WAC leadership retired that debt early rather than fund ASO operations. But what about the costs of running the venue? Does it pay for itself or is it a liability? If you have been following the reports around this lockout or the one in 2012 then you probably have heard mutterings about the VWA being the real source of the ASO’s financial shortfall. Is this true?
It took an open records request and a comparison of numbers across four different sources, but it appears that I have finally found out how much the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (VWA) costs the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO). I have mentioned before that the financial statements available from the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC) are not clear enough to tease out the real costs related to the various activities of the ASO. I pointed out that the funding model used for the VWA broke from the approaches used for other capital development projects that the WAC has undertaken and that it has resulted in a large financial burden for the ASO. I have also already discussed the fact that there seem to be conflicts of interest among many on the WAC’s Board of Governors when it comes to the VWA and that these conflicts of interest may be preventing them from putting the ASO’s interests first when it comes to decisions relating to that property.
The Woodruff Arts Center leadership has repeatedly stated that the ASO has been running deficits for the past 12 years. That coincides with the WAC’s incorporation of what appears to be a shell company, Encore Park for the Arts, and purchasing the land for the VWA from one of its board member’s companies, Cousins Properties. In 2007, when the WAC issued the bonds for the VWA project, they held a credit rating of AA3 from Moody’s. Since then, their bond ratings have been downgraded twice and, just last year, Moody’s issued a statement downgrading the WAC’s outlook, suggesting that another downgrade is likely. The principal reasons given for this are the ASO’s accumulated deficits and the WAC’s accumulated debt. It is hard to imagine that the debt from the VWA is not related to this — indeed, that is likely part of the reason why the WAC leadership retired that debt early rather than fund ASO operations. But what about the costs of running the venue? Does it pay for itself or is it a liability? If you have been following the reports around this lockout or the one in 2012 then you probably have heard mutterings about the VWA being the real source of the ASO’s financial shortfall. Is this true?