New Jersey freezes McCarter funding

To date, the theater has not received any of the $617,000 that had been contractually committed to it by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, said Timothy Shields, the theater’s managing director.

“We’re told that some time in the next two or three weeks there will be some decision made about whether or not the payment will be forthcoming,” Shields said. “If payment is not forthcoming, we might have more serious issues.”

McCarter Theatre is recognized as one of the nation’s premier regional theaters, attracting upwards of 200,000 people each season to its theatrical, musical and dance performances.

Tom Vincz, a spokesman for the state treasury department, said the decision “to put discretionary spending on hold” came in light of the state’s $1 billion “budgetary shortfall,” The Princeton Packet reported on Dec. 9. As part of attempts to overcome the midyear budget deficit, $13.2 million in funding to arts groups has been halted, in addition to $20.6 million in aid to municipalities.

The delay in funding for McCarter will not affect productions scheduled for the current season, but it could affect productions scheduled for the season starting in September 2010, Shields said.

“We’ve already for this year cut our budget by more than $500,000 and eliminated five administrative positions in anticipation of this being a tough year economically anyhow,” he explained.

“Further than that,” he added, “if the funds are not forthcoming, it will very much affect the work we do for the community: The number of shows we do, the quantity and quality of shows and, more seriously, the many educational programs that McCarter does for kids throughout this community and many others in the central New Jersey region.”

Gov. Jon Corzine (D) is set to release an $800 million plan to balance the budget before Christmas. Half of these funds will come from the state’s internal departments. These cuts are in line with the requests of governor-elect Chris Christie (R), who has asked lawmakers to “to keep spending in check” even before he takes office in January, Vincz said.

Artistic organizations like theaters, which are heavily dependent on grants and outside funding, are especially susceptible to the withholding or elimination of government funds.

In response to the theater’s precarious financial situation, Shields has been requesting “friends of McCarter” to take action by “making a charitable gift to McCarter” or registering their opinion with legislators.

“My expectation or hope would be that the state would comply with the contract that they signed and provide full funding,” he said.