TITLE
Recommendation to approve payments to Aquarium of the Pacific for the $10.7 million balance of a $15 million Aquarium Challenge Grant, to be paid from Tidelands operating funds, as part of the funding for the Pacific Visions Project, subject to conditions, and authorize City Manager to execute the necessary documents in connection therewith.
DISCUSSION
The City has long recognized the value of the Aquarium of the Pacific facility (Aquarium) and its management by the Aquarium of the Pacific Corporation (Corporation). The City also recognizes the benefits that will be provided to the City and its residents and businesses by the proposed Pacific Visions expansion. In support of the Aquarium, the City has issued over $100 million in bonds (through the Long Beach Bond Finance Authority), supports the Aquarium with $6 million per year in funding for debt service on those bonds, and has provided other funding and support, including the Aquarium Challenge Grant (Grant), as described below.
The Grant was awarded by the City Council in 2013, as a non-binding program to grant City Tidelands funds to the Corporation to encourage donations to a major addition to the Aquarium - the Pacific Visions Project. The Grant was intended to be up to $1.5 million a year for ten years, for a total of $15 million, subject to an annual appropriation, if funding is available. To date, the City has paid $4.3 million to the Corporation. Since the creation of the Grant, there has been a precipitous decline in Tidelands oil revenue. As a result, recent actual payments have been less than originally contemplated. Payments to date are shown below:
City Grant Payments Made to the Corporation
City Fiscal Year Amount ($ in M) Payment Date
2013 $1.5 10/11/13
2014 $1.5 10/27/14
2015 $1.3 2/25/16
2016 - Tidelands projects all under review
Total $4.3 Does not include 2017 budget of $1.5 M
Much of the private contributions for the Pacific Visions Project have been received or pledged. ...
Click here for full text