At Tuesday’s meeting, the Logan City Council announced their decision to give the Utah Festival Opera the $150,000 the opera has requested. However, the donation comes with strings attached.
Council chair Holly Daines said the opera needs to change to survive.
“I believe the board now understands the seriousness of the situation, and has made serious progress in the last two weeks towards making the structural changes necessary to change the opera,” Daines said.
After an investigation into the opera’s financial practices, the council wrote a resolution to provide the requested funding, with four requirements to be met before the money will be given.
1. UFOMT publically announces a 2018 performance season together with a FY 2018 budget that has been approved by the UFOMT Board of Directors.
2. The UFOMT Board of Directors is expanded to include a representative jointly designated by the Logan City Mayor and the Cache County Executive.
3. The UFOMT Board of Directors enacts a “Continuity and Succession” plan that will ensure that UFOMT continues to have strong artistic and executive leadership.
4. The UFOMT Board of Directors approves changes in UFOMT bylaws that provide assurance of improved financial and operational policies.
At the meeting, Mayor Craig Petersen said the UFOMT has made steps toward meeting these requirements, including creating a plan of “Continuity and Succession,” which remains private. Other steps include addressing council concerns by working with a new treasurer and changing bylaws about spending.
“Under their existing bylaws, it was possible for a single individual to approve expenditures up to $100,000 and that’s been changed,” he said. “For expenditures above $10,000 and below $100,000, they have to be approved by the founding general director and also the board chairman.”
Ultimately, the council concluded the city of Logan would profit or benefit from the one time donation supporting the opera.
