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Politics & Government

Update: County Gives Opera House $100,000 from Skyline Purchase Fund

The one-time grant will allow the historic hall to retire its debt, said an Opera House spokesman. The money will come from the approximately $1,000,000 set aside for the purchase of state-owned Skyline Wilderness Park.

Updated 6:15 p.m. to correct Louisa's initial reporting error that indicated the money would come from a portion set aside for the arts.

Napa County supervisors voted four to one this morning to approve a $100,000 grant to the .

The one-time gift is intended to help the nonprofit concert hall retire its capital debt and banish the risk that the Opera House might share the fate of failed local institutions Copia and the Lincoln Theater.

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County staff had suggested that the llion's share of the grant, nearly $96,000, will come from the portion of the county's hotel-tax-supported "Special Projects Fund" that is designated for the arts in 2012.

But supervisors instead agreed to take the full amount from the approximately $1 million set aside for the county's planned purchase of state-owned .

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The sole "no" voter was District 2 supervisor Mark Luce, who objected to raiding the Skyline fund.

"Just because the money sits there doesn’t mean it should be tapped," said Luce.

"We need to maintain some discipline or eventually it'll all crumble and we'll have a free-for-all."

But the majority of the board agreed with Upvalley supervisor Diane Dillon of District 3, who said "The Opera House is a benefit to us all."

Opera House president Bob Almeida said the $100,000 grant will enable the historic hall to complete its capital campaign and become what he called "a completely independent operation."

Once the capital debt is discharged, Almeda told the supervisors, "we in turn will transfer ownership of the land and building to a new nonprofit that will act as a public trust ... and ensure the Napa Valley Opera House can never be encumbered in the future."

Thirty percent of performances at the Opera House are by local acts, Almeda said, with some 20 performing arts groups making their home on its stage.

Though it's located in downtown Napa, per capita ticket sales are stronger in St. Helena and Yountville, he continued.

About 30 percent of ticket buyers are "heads in beds,"or overnight visitors to the Napa Valley, Almeda said.

In January, the city of Napa committed $1.5 million in redevelopment funds to the Opera House to help it get out of debt. Other donors have also pledged assistance, according to Almeda.

An agenda report, detailing both the Opera House's campaign to clear its debt and the history of the county's Special Projects Fund, can be found online at http://services.countyofnapa.org/AgendaNetDocs/Agendas/BOS/12-13-2011/9E.pdf

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