City council approves grants for municipal theatres
At its meeting today, the City Council approved the allocation of €1.35 million in additional funds for grants to Städtische Theater Chemnitz gGmbH (STC gGmbH). The additional funds will be provided from additional income from general key allocations.
The 2018 budget planning already includes a grant totalling 27.4 million euros to STC gGmbH. In addition, STC gGmbH requires a further subsidy for 2017 and 2018. On the one hand, STC gGmbH has higher financial requirements of 600,000 euros in 2018; on the other hand, a net loss of around 750,000 euros was already incurred in 2017.
The difficult economic situation is due to several factors: The musical theatre recorded lower income, as visitor response in the musical and operetta genres did not develop as expected. The cost of materials was significantly higher than planned at the end of 2017 due to higher-than-planned expenses for materials and rights, guest fees and travel expenses. Personnel expenses also significantly exceeded the 2017 target. The management of STC gGmbH has indicated a similar economic situation for the 2018 financial year as in 2017.
The grant will enable STC gGmbH to maintain its equity at the level at the beginning of 2017 and present a balanced business plan for 2018. This will prevent the threat of STC gGmbH becoming overindebted.