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Committee pauses Maryland Hall fee-waiver resolution, urges grant route or supplemental appropriation
Summary
Maryland Hall sought a permit-fee waiver for a proposed HVAC and theater renovation; the finance director recommended a one-time grant or supplemental appropriation instead and the committee took no action.
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts presented a request to the Finance Committee on March 19 asking the city to waive permit fees for a planned capital renovation, including a full HVAC replacement and upgrades to the Bowen Theater to reduce sound bleed between performance spaces.
Jackie Coleman, identified in the meeting as Maryland Hall’s director, said the building (constructed in 1932) is undergoing a capital campaign for a comprehensive HVAC renovation that would remove portable air conditioning units, improve patron and artist comfort, and allow simultaneous programming of the main hall and the Bowen Theater. Coleman said the renovation would take about 18 months. She described previous city support: a capital grant in about 2018 for roughly $163,000 that she said functioned at the time in lieu of a permit-fee waiver, ongoing annual operating grants of roughly $20,000–$30,000 in some years, and an estimate of roughly $28,931 in in-kind use of Maryland Hall spaces for city events since 2019. Coleman told the committee Maryland Hall’s campus drew about 14,000 visitors in 2023.
Members of the committee asked whether the request should be handled as a fee waiver or as a grant. Jody Dickinson, the city’s finance director, advised that treating the city’s support as a grant funded by one-time funds (a supplemental appropriation from fund balance) is cleaner from an accounting and policy perspective because waiving permit fees reduces recognized revenue accounts that are intended to defray permit-related service costs. Cynthia Reuter, Office of Law policy analyst, recommended the pending resolution be withdrawn and refiled because a grant requires a different legislative vehicle than the resolution on the committee’s agenda.
Committee members debated speed versus process. Maryland Hall said permits had been submitted and review had begun and that construction was scheduled to start May 27; the director said the organization had some flexibility on payment timing so long as permitting could proceed. Committee members expressed support for Maryland Hall’s role as a longstanding cultural partner but emphasized the need for a consistent internal policy on permit fee waivers versus grants. Several members asked the mayor’s office to withdraw the mayoral resolution and return with either a supplemental appropriation or a new piece of legislation that would formalize a grant or fee-waiver policy. The committee took no action on the measure at this meeting.
Why it matters: The discussion addresses how municipal support for nonprofit cultural institutions is recorded and delivered. The finance director’s recommendation to use one-time grant funding reflects accounting practices that preserve fee-based revenue recognition and allow use of fund-balance resources for one-time measures.
What the committee recorded: No favorable recommendation or other action was taken. Committee members asked the mayor’s office to withdraw the current resolution and work with the finance director to present a supplemental appropriation or new legislation that would provide Maryland Hall with the requested financial support without disrupting permit revenue accounting.
