The following appeared in a memo from a budget planner for the city of Grandview It is time for the city of Grandview to stop funding the Grandview Symphony Orchestra It is true that the symphony struggled financially for many years but last year private

The memo from the City of Grandview’s budget planner recommends the defunding of the Grandview Symphony Orchestra due to its economic success in the past year. It portends an economic revival for the institution and argues against continued governmental funding. The memo however fails to bolster its argument with facts necessary to assess the quality of the recommendation. Unless the following questions are answered, the recommendation will likely not have its intended effect.

At the onset, the budget planner concedes that the Orchestra has been struggling for several years. This implies that there may be persistent operational challenges. We need to know why the institution has not fared particularly well in this town. Has the city been known for its hip-hop musical scenery? If so, the Orchestra may have formidable competition with hip-hop music in the city. Maybe there is a cultural predilection against classical music in the town. Had the Orchestra recently fired its director? Is the Orchestra located in an urban region publicly accessible by public transportation? The answer to these questions may suggest that the Orchestra have enduring challenges that maintains its financial struggles, and it may take it longer than a year to get over them. If so, it would be a stretch to predict that the Symphony Orchestra “will flourish in the years to come.”

Again, the author contends that attendance and contributions have recently increased. Is this because of the resolution of the reasons their finances had stagnated in the first place? What if the private contributions have been flowing in because of a recent Olympics event the city of Grandview had bidded for on behalf of the federal government and was responsible for in the last year? Yes, the Orchestra might only have been responsible for the musical piece at the opening, closing, and other ceremonies throughout the city; but due to persistent funding issues, it has had to appeal to its wealthy private patrons for temporary reprieve. This would not only imply that the surge in funding is likely to wane but might actually require the city budget planner to petition the federal government on the Orchestra’s behalf as they seek to make up the deficit from last year’s sudden demand surge. This would also explain why there was a attendance peak last year. And as any city who have hosted a major sporting event would know, shuttle buses are constant and ubiquitious throughout the city during the course of the sporting event. This would momentarily address the issues of transportation the Orchestra has had to endure but would not guarantee the city access to the Orchestra in the coming years.

The budget deficit due to a national event would also explain why the Orchestra is needing to raise ticket prices in the next year, an inconvenience that can easily be dissuaded by the planner petitioning to the federal government on its behalf. The role of the Symphony Orchestra would also need to be considered for the coming years. Has it traditionally been a governmental agency? If so, at what level—national, state, or local—and why has its budget been consistently depleting? If the city of Grandview is tired of underwriting the Symphony, it might be necessary to shift it unto the private sector. A private company would be able to more quickly respond to the challenges the Orchestra has been facing, maybe even opting to physically relocate it. This may be a more effective recommendation that just withdrawing its budget.

All in all, the argument as presented leaves much room for vexation and misunderstanding. If the city has no more need of the Orchestra then it should release it from its grasp and let it fix its own issues. However, if there are legitimate concerns of budget embezzlement and overspending, then there needs to be better fiduciary and monetary details presented along with this piece.