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“It is not going to be mission-changing, but we will have to cut something,” said Michael Moran, executive director of the Stamford Center for the Arts.
SCA, a not-for-profit organization that owns and operates the Palace Theatre and Rich Forum, took a $15,148 cut as part of a series of cuts the state announced last week. The cut is about 4 percent of the funding it receives from the state annually, Moran said.
Moran did not know exactly where the deficit will be made up but said no one will lose their job and the level of acts and performances should not change. He will know more of the cut’s direct effect next week when he meets with the center's executive board.
The total annual spending plan for the Stamford Center for the Arts was not immediately available.
Last week, the state announced $170 million in cuts in response to an estimated budget shortfall of $365 million. The cuts from the executive branch budget, made by Gov. Dannel Malloy, totaled more than $161 million, while the legislative branch agreed to $3 million in cuts, and the judicial branch $5 million.
“Many of these cuts are very difficult to make, especially now when so many residents continue to struggle in a tough economy,” said Ben Barnes, director of the state’s Office of Policy Management. “But as painful as they are, cuts are necessary to keep this year’s budget in balance. State government needs to live within its means.”
Barnes added an ominous warning.
“We should all remember that, as difficult as some of these reductions are to make now, there are more, even tougher, choices ahead.”
The state Legislature is expected to announce a plan to mitigate the rest of the shortfall this month.
Click here to see the complete list of cuts the state has announced.
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