Woodstock’s town board last week denied a request from councilmember Maria Elena Conte for $13,000 in town funds on behalf of the Woodstock Film Festival Inc., a million-dollar arts not-for-profit which according to IRS tax records paid its executive director, Meira Blaustein, $80,000 in 2022.
According to these records, the total 2022 revenues of the Woodstock-based organization were $1,205,104, consisting of $965,672 in grants, contributions and memberships; $207,006 from program services; and the remaining $32,426 in other revenues. Total expenses were $1,195,390.
Total revenues in 2021 had been $1,135,017 and total expenses $818,351.
Expenses increased much faster than revenues in 2022, though total assets increased from $781,599 at the beginning of the year to $811,813 at its end. Total wages and salaries in 2022 other than Blaustein’s were $266,503.
By Woodstock standards, Woodstock Film Festival Inc. is no small not-for-profit arts organization.
“We are facing an emergency with this one particular non-profit that brings the festival to the town each year,” Conte said at the August 20 meeting. “The film festival has enriched our community for the last 25 years. They bring revenue to the town each year. I feel it doesn’t provide enough support for them to just waive the rental fee for the community center.” The WFF was facing a big rent hike at one of its venues.
Her funding proposal was an amendment to a resolution waiving rental fees for use of the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center, which the film festival will utilize for six days for $1500.
“We have never financially contributed to them,” Conte continued. “Even if this is a one-time contribution, it would help them to be able to stay in Woodstock. The venue rentals are skyrocketing, and they desperately need our help.”
Supervisor Bill McKenna and councilmembers Anula Courtis and Laura Ricci were unconvinced. Councilmember Bennet Ratcliff was absent.
McKenna said all the arts organizations were facing crisis. Costs were going up for all of them.
The film festival was not alone, he said. He mentioned the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild and the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra as recent arts organizations looking for money, “and they’re in a desperate way.”
Courtis is working with McKenna on a different way to help. “What we discussed is the opportunity to put together a list of arts organizations who we can support equally across the board so that everyone gets a fair and equitable share of some funding,” Courtis said.
Conte called that proposal an excellent idea, but argued the WWF was facing an emergency. And it was the 25th anniversary of this particular nonprofit.
Ricci said giving WFF that amount of money was rewarding the bad behavior of whoever was hiking the rent.
McKenna said after the meeting that the WFF told him one of its venues was increasing its rent from $13,000 to $26,000, and was expecting the town to make up the difference.
Ricci also agreed with spreading the money across more organizations.
“We need to be thinking through across the board, and nonprofits and all of the arts are extremely important to Woodstock, but we need to be careful about what we do,” she said.
Town clerk Jackie Earley suggested that the WFF should show the town its books if it needs the funding.
The IRS Form 990 required annually of all not-for-profits shows their financial situation in granular detail and easy-to-compare ways. It provides a suitable introductory data base for analysis and donor decision-making,
McKenna said the town board had a past practice of contributing to a list of nonprofit arts groups at its organizational meeting each January. For some reason, thehabit has fallen by the wayside.
The WFF declined to comment, but did acknowledge approaching the town for funding due to rising costs. The Woodstock Film Festival runs October 15 to October 20, with screenings and events in Woodstock, Rosendale and Saugerties.
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