The Malibu Stage Company will go before the City Council at its next meeting, Monday night, to request a release of $50,000 of a $75,000 grant that was originally approved by the council in 1999.
The stipulations of the original grant were that it be a one-time grant only and that the company match the funds with donations and contributions from subscribers.
At a September 1999 council meeting, Malibu Stage Artistic Director Charles Marowitz requested a release of grant funds, but it was without the approval of Malibu Stage board members, several other members charged. Immediately after Marowitz made his request, Larry Berkholder, former Malibu Stage treasurer and board member, and former President David Weintraub, went before the council to request that the grant be frozen while the company reorganized.
The council froze the funds and requested that the company provide a financial report prior to any further moneys being released.
The Malibu Stage Company is now coming back before the council offering a financial report that is a two years old and a tax return for the fiscal year 1999-2000. They also have submitted a list of contributions from 1999 to 2000, an estimated budget for the 2001 production year and a proposal for a joint-operating agreement with the Point Dume Community Services District.
The Malibu Stage Company received $53,521 in revenue, including $15,000 in contributions and $34,742 from production and performances, according to the 1999-2000 tax return. They were left with a operating deficit of $15,018 in February of 2000, after total expenses of $68,539.
Certified Public Accountant S. David Abrishamian was hired by Malibu Stage to complete the financial statement, which is now being offered to the council in support of the company’s plea for the release of the additional funds. In a cover letter submitted with the financial report, Abrishamian wrote: “Management has elected to omit substantially all of the disclosures ordinarily included in financial statements. If the omitted disclosures were included in the financial statements, they might influence the users conclusions about the organizations assets, net assets, support, revenues and expenses.”
Attorney/CPA, Norm Goodman, consulted by The Malibu Times, said that financial statement is basically a “regurgitation of a client’s record put in a CPA’s format.
“You can’t put as much prudence on these financial statements as you can in an audit,” said Goodman.
In a letter to the council, current Malibu Stage Chair Geoffrey Ortiz wrote that the board anticipates a 2001 budget deficit of more than $2,300. The board plans to make up this deficit with co-productions and their downtime rental revenues.
According to Ortiz, Clark and James Cowan, owners of the property, gave approval of the proposed plan to work with the Point Dume Community Services District to bring in and share downtime rental revenues they book.