Funding lifeline for museum

By Tim Scott

A proposal to grant Otago Museum additional funding has narrowly passed, despite concerns about the financial burden passed on to ratepayers.

In its annual plan, the Dunedin City Council planned a 2% levy increase to museum funding.

Museum director Ian Griffin urged the council for a 7% increase, in line with inflation, or else the museum would be forced to make staff cuts it was desperate to avoid.

After a robust debate at the annual plan deliberations yesterday, the council settled on a 5% levy increase which was passed 7-6.

Cr Walker, in support, said the 5% increase was a "fair compromise" in a constrained fiscal environment that addressed some of the issues while remaining palatable for the public.

"I’m 99% confident that if you took to the streets now, you would find very, very few people who wouldn’t agree that a less than 0.1% rise in their rates is a sacrifice they are not willing to make to bring some financial assurance and sustainability to an iconic institution that is absolutely an important part of our community."

The motion contained additional resolutions for the council to support a campaign to government to provide the museum with a level of funding that recognised the importance of its collection, and to review legislation for museum funding.

Deputy mayor Sophie Barker, in opposition, was concerned about "putting money on the table without understanding the consequences of it".

She said according to a 2018 census, every household paid about $100 towards the museum.

The current legislation around museum funding meant the council could not fund less than the year before.

"Anything we add in becomes the minimum and becomes locked in," she said.

She was cautious about the 5% levy increase and called for a more transparent legislative process.

"If we’re giving a levy this year, it would seem more like a band-aid rather than a heart transplant."

"We need to look at the whole health of the museum," Cr Barker said.

Cr Jim O’Malley, in opposition, was concerned about the lack of information surrounding the 5% levy.

"Without the report to go with it, we are making a request based on the requester alone," he said.

"We need to know it in the context of what we are doing the funding for, which means, as much as it pains me, I will not be voting yes [on the motion] because of that lack of context."

Cr David Benson-Pope, in support, said there was no dispute about the importance of the museum and its operations.

"I certainly think that it’s time we support the Otago Museum and the museums in Christchurch and Auckland around central government funding at higher levels for these major collections.

"Although ours is a bit of a gem, the major collections held by these other institutions are, shall we say, not treated on an even playing field with Te Papa in Wellington."