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Council adopts performing arts utility budget amid questions about prior $456k payments to promoter
Summary
Council adopted a utility budget for the new Kennedy Center performing arts venue, establishing anticipated ticket sales and staffing costs; at the same time members pressed administration for invoices and accountability related to payments to Duckett Entertainment and urged an independent review of contracting and performance.
The council adopted a 2026 utility budget for the Kennedy Center performing arts program after a contentious discussion about prior contracts and payments to a theater management company.
Administration described a balanced utility budget that anticipates ticket revenues and modest rentals to cover $148,863 in projected expenses (including $55,000 for staffing and $93,000 for other operating costs). “We are setting the appropriation the revenues and appropriations for the performing arts budget,” the manager said, emphasizing the state-required balanced budget process.
Councilwoman Perrone pushed for forensic-level detail about payments to Duckett Entertainment, which she said received roughly $456,000 but had not delivered the ticket revenue the township expected. She urged an independent ethics or financial review to determine whether contract deliverables were met and whether the township received value for the funds paid. Other council members and the mayor said prior contract performance had been discussed at earlier meetings and defended some of the services provided under Duckett’s engagement, but Perrone and others pressed administration to provide invoices and contract evidence for public review. The council approved the performing arts utility budget with at least one recorded no vote.
