Live Music Fund headed for final Council vote next month

The city’s Live Music Fund is expected to get final approval from City Council in February, nearly three and a half years since it was created using millions of dollars in Hotel Occupancy Tax revenues.

At last week’s Music Commission meeting, staff from the Music and Entertainment Division said the Purchasing Department is finalizing portions of the contract that would allow Long Center for the Performing Arts to handle the administration of the program, distributing grants of $5,000 to $10,000 to performers and promoters of live music. The program is currently budgeted at $3 million, but Economic Development Department staffers plan to ask Council in January to increase that amount because of stronger than anticipated increases in hotel tax funds.

The Live Music Fund had been scheduled to go before Council at the Nov. 17 meeting, but that meeting was canceled and the contract wasn’t put back on the agenda before the end of the year. One possible factor in the wait was purchasing’s decision to ask the Long Center – the only organization that responded to an open call from previous city vendors – to manage programs for cultural arts and historic preservation that also are funded with hotel tax dollars.

The delay in enacting the Live Music Fund was unusual enough that former Council Member Kathie Tovo submitted a query during last summer’s budget work: “The information on (budget) page 459 for the Live Music Fund suggests that there have been virtually no expenditures since it was created in 2019 …. The beginning balance is $6,122,155.”

EDD staff has said part of the delay is caused by staffing shortages throughout the city, causing the need to seek out an outside organization to administer assorted city-funded programs, with the alternative being far longer timelines needed for staff to handle the workload.

At last week’s meeting, city staff said the Live Music Fund will be the first of the three programs to be activated so the application portal can be opened and grants can be distributed by late spring or summer.

Commissioner Nagavalli Medicharla was among the members who expressed concern over the timeline for beginning the program, while also questioning the Long Center’s track record and charges for carrying out that kind of work.

“Are we saying summer, or are we saying further on, because we were really big on bringing this program in early this year,” she said. “There are some concerns about multiple grants being managed and bandwidth issues …. I’m curious to understand what is being done so that music stays prioritized, or is prioritized if it hasn’t been.”

Commissioners discussed sending a recommendation to Council to approve the Long Center contract, but questions about the criteria used to determine the administrative fee caused that motion to be withdrawn. It will likely appear on the commission’s agenda ahead of Council’s Feb. 9 meeting.

Music Commission Chair Anne-Charlotte Patterson said it appears the city’s staffing shortage has created a push to have purchasing staff try to consolidate outside contracts whenever possible.

“I had made the assumption that when the Long Center was selected to be that partner and take on the task of being the administrator, I didn’t realize they were also talking with them about taking on programs for Cultural Arts as well, and apparently the workload essentially tripled and a lot of the wait has been about squaring away all the details,” she said. “It seemed like before you’d made a selection that certain details would have been nailed down, and not do it after you’ve basically selected the bidder. The scope has creeped a lot, but I’m grateful that we’ve been told music will be at the front of the line.”

The Long Center’s position as the sole bidder for the contract means the city would have to reset the entire proposal and qualification process if City Council doesn’t vote in favor next month.

In recent years, the nonprofit has made itself available as a sort of administrative clearinghouse for local arts groups that require assistance with their own administrative and human resources tasks.

Long Center’s Bobby Garza said the music program can be spun up soon after Council’s vote, following some final discussion about the city’s priorities for eligibility.

“We’re ready to do stuff as soon as the city is and the first thing that has to happen is for the Council to give (the contract) an affirmative vote. We’re going to work as hard as we can to get these programs going as quickly and diligently as possible.”

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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