Happy New Year! Did you dance the night away to some live music?
We are headed face first into 2023. The United States Congress is in a flux. New people are getting sworn into office in Annapolis, Maryland. And music venue cronyism is alive and well in Montgomery County, MD!
Let’s start with the Live Nation Worldwide, Inc’s Fillmore venue in Silver Spring, MD. Did you know it cost “at least $11.2 million” in taxpayer funds back in 2010? That is the equivalent of over $15.2 million today.
Per the Washington Post back in September of 2011:
“Soon after, Leggett sealed a deal with Live Nation to develop the Fillmore with $4 million in state funds and another $4 million in county funds. With the county using tax dollars to subsidize a for-profit enterprise, criticism came from all directions. After requests to place its competing bid were ignored, I.M.P. filed suit against the state of Maryland in 2010 to try to block the Fillmore’s funding. It didn’t work, but the suit did surface the fact that the project actually cost taxpayers at least $11.2 million.”
But, no worries about this bag of money. It “pays for itself” in the lingo of the politician. And, where else would someone in the Maryland suburbs be able to witness the incredible talent of the rapper “Shordie Shordie” (coming Jan. 12)?
Actually, the Fillmore Silver Spring isn’t the most egregious example of Montgomery County government cronyism / tax dollar handout(s) in the music space. At least that appeared to be a one-time “deal” to convince Live Nation the County really, really wanted them. At least publicly, to this writer’s knowledge and research, there is no ongoing “deal” that funnels money from taxpayers to the (seemingly) very busy and profitable Live Nation venue.
The more egregious example of tax dollars continually going to dubious effect occurs at the very venue the Montgomery County Council and Chief Exec hosted their Inauguration this past month.
Strathmore Music Hall has been a very, very expensive outlay indeed. Per an old (2004) Maryland Daily Record article, it is revealed:
“The Montgomery County Council yesterday approved spending $3.3 million to complete construction of the Music Center at Strathmore, calming fears that cost overruns would delay or even halt the project.
When the council approved Strathmore construction in 2000, it placed a $44.6 million cap on county spending — half the estimated cost of the project. The state picked up the other half. The cap came after estimates of the center’s costs rose from $50 million to $68 million and then to $98 million, said council spokesman Patrick Lacefield. Faced with a $9.6 million overrun last fall, County Executive Douglas M. Duncan asked the council in November to approve a supplemental appropriation for $7.6 million. He asked the county to make a decision by yesterday. That overrun is not unusual for a project of this size and complexity, said Strathmore Hall Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Eliot Pfanstiehl.”
That’s roughly $154 million bucks (adjusted to today) of taxpayer funds that went to a large concert hall’s construction. Why?
“Officials expect the center will be a great attraction for the county. “The cultural amenities are becoming more and more important” for companies considering moving to the area, said county Department of Economic Development spokesman Joe Shapiro.”
We will leave it to the reader to determine if Montgomery County has attracted companies “to the area” of Strathmore / White Flint Mall in the near two-decades since construction.
It also isn’t clear that all these years later, the Strathmore is self-sustaining its operations. The last annual report available at strathmore.org is from fiscal year 2019. On it, the 501c3 (charity) organization notes $16.7 million in revenue to $14.33 million in expenses. But the revenue includes “$1.55 million in Government Grants”. There is also a revenue account / group called “Other” of $1.077 million. What is the actual operating profit or loss of Strathmore Music Hall? This particular annual report does not say. Does the music hall turn a basic profit from operations serving as a concert hall and events space, or not?
Arlington, Virginia had a similar situation with the money-losing “Artisphere” venue and events center in Rosslyn, Virginia.
After hundreds of millions in tax dollars on various music venues since 2004, wouldn’t Montgomery County be better served in 2023 by focusing resources on schools, roads, bridges and / or… maybe returning surplus amounts to… the taxpayer?
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