Consistent with previous Budget Advocate recommendations, the DCA should be given the support and resources to modernize their operations by upgrading their technology infrastructure, as well as streamline and standardize inter-departmental communication.

There should be infrastructure investment in current DCA managed facilities, particularly theaters and other venues, in order to be fully leveraged revenue streams.

Fees associated with theater and venue rentals should reflect market-rates for private and for-profit groups, while remaining cost-neutral for community and non-profit organizations.

In line with the DCA's current study, fees related to classes and other services should be comparable to similar municipalities.

Overview - The Department of Cultural Affairs is comprised of 5 divisions that work in conjunction to provide arts and cultural experiences for Los Angeles' residents and visitors: 1. Community Arts 2. Grants Administration 3. Public Art 4. Performing Arts and 5. Marketing and Development. With a focus on equity, access and efficiency, the DCA aims to creatively increase the quality of life of 4 million residences by advancing the social and economic impact of the arts and ensuring access to diverse and enriching cultural activities. The DCA achieves this through: grant-making, marketing, development, public art, community arts programming, performing arts, arts education, and building partnerships with artists and arts and cultural organizations in neighborhoods throughout the City of Los Angeles.

Issues - The DCA's Budget has been hit very hard in the last 13 years, being cut by 50% in 2004, and by another 50% in 2011. This has resulted in the deterioration of infrastructure, stunted revenue channels, and under-staffing. The Department aims to of rebuild and stabilize operations back to the point of capacity.

The DCA outlined the following needs: 1. Be fully integrated on the City's Internet backbone 2. Attend to and build infrastructure, particularly in the Performing Arts Division and 3. Build up staffing. The DCA is currently very limited by the lack of uniform access to Internet technology across the municipality. Because of the lack of tech infrastructure, most DCA run facilities cannot accept credit and debit cards, only cash and check, limiting possible revenue streams. Even the use of such mobile applications as SquareCash is dictated by the cellphone service available in each individual location. In order to reach maximum efficiency, the DCA stresses the need for uniform access. Lack of uniform access limits the department's ability to collect data as to who is being served by its services. Until recently, limited technological support by the City had restricted the department to an outdated website from 2001. In order to update their web presence, the Department was forced to contract an independent design firm. In order to fully upgrade its technology systems, the DCA anticipates a need of approximately $1million. The Department also indicated that every one of its facilities had infrastructure needs. DCA run theaters are underused, requiring infrastructure improvements to make them marketable for renting and DCA programming. With a sever reduction in staffing, the DCA has relied heavily on part-time employees. Most affected by understaffing has been the Marketing and Development Division. The division was reduced to 1 full-time staff member during the previous budget. Currently, the DCA has 2 full-time staff members - the Digital Communications Manager and Art Division Manager - but has yet to fill the Public information Director position.

In order to increase efficiency and mitigate costs, the Department has decreased reliance on part-time employees, decreased their overtime needs and focused on expenditures. The DCA believes it can increase revenue by continuing to expand their full-time staff and investing in infrastructure and technology. This spending will allow for current City-owned facilities to be fully leveraged as revenue streams. The Department is also currently conducting a fee study to determine appropriate pricing for the services it provides. The Department indicated that fees have not been examined since 1993 and that costs need to be responsive to today's needs. Through this study, the Department is comparing the cost of classes, theater rentals, etc. to similar municipalities. They also indicated that costs would not be compared to private arts classes in order maintain access and equity, and keep barriers to entry low. Theater rental will continue to provide accessible rates for community groups and non-profits groups.

Because the City's budget doesn't immediately respond to economic shortfalls and the Department's largest funding stream remains the Transient Occupancy Tax, the DCA's budget is vulnerable to revenue fluctuations from year to year. In order to build a safety net to respond to these fluctuations, the DCA would like to receive $250K in additional budget support during each fiscal year, with the ultimate goal of building up to 1% of the Departments budget.

Conclusion - The Department of Cultural Affairs is currently underleveraged and underfunded. The lack of technology infrastructure remains one of the primary barriers of optimizing revenue streams for the department. By centralizing and streamlining technology across divisions, the DCA will also increase staff efficiency and its effectiveness in reaching community participants, partners and potential donors. Additionally, DCA run facilities require significant infrastructure updates in order to maximize revenue from theater and venue rentals. The DCA's current rental fees are based on the costs to the department, or cost neutral. This is an area for potential increase in revenue, not only by upgrading the facilities, but also by charging market-rates for facility rentals beyond the costs to the department. The Department also indicated that current fees are not in line with comparable municipalities. Updating fees for classes and services will bring an additional increase in revenue.