Toitoi (HB Arts and Events Centre) presented the findings of a staff-prepared review of its operations to Hastings councillors this week.

The review looked at the 2023/24 financial year, given that window covered the most recent year of operations ‘without disruption’ (i.e. Covid, cyclone), with projections for the current year.

The financial analysis was broken into two parts – the cost of the Building Asset (paying for refurbishing, maintaining and earthquake strengthening of the physical facilities) and the cost of Operations (running the venue on a day-to-day basis).

The Asset cost, which includes $1.5 million in annual finance interest, required $92.05 per ratepayer property in 2023/24 as the ‘ratepayer contribution’. That cost is considered ‘baked in’ to the Council’s long term budget.

The Operating cost, driven chiefly by a staff cost of $1.8 million, required a ratepayer contribution of $64.65. This number has been decreasing over time. Revenue of $1.6 million was reported for 2023/24.

Most of the review and Council discussion revolved around the Operating cost and achievable savings and additional revenue opportunities. The latter include pursuing Naming rights, a Patron and membership fundraising programme and higher venue hire charges (which can be based on a percentage of ticket sales for commercial events).

In the period February 2020 through June 2024, Toitoi hosted 804 performances and events attracting 184,628 attendees. In 2023/24, there were 302 events, roughly 25 per month, but only 127 events in the current year to date (e.g., no Arts Festival). Venue hire is of course a key revenue stream.

Despite a two-tier venue hire fee structure (with ‘community’ events paying less than ‘commercial’ hires), staff said that no events ‘lost’ money. In each case, revenue met the specific direct cost of servicing the event, but did not necessarily cover other operational/overhead costs. Overall, each event diminishes the ratepayer contribution required to subsidise operations. Bottom line: more events, with more people attending is good for the ratepayer.

It was noted that Toitoi competes against about two dozen other HB venues for events … and obviously there’s a finite pool of prospective attractions. What does seem missing is a measure of events hosted as against what a reasonable target for Toitoi’s hosting might be — how close is Toitoi to meeting its ‘carrying capacity’?

The Toitoi team reports quarterly to Councillors, who overall were satisfied with the current state of play … no alarm bells.