The Santa Monica Pier is expanding its search for revenue following two years of sobering financials and the entity is considering an active push into community donations, expanded retail offerings and continued use of its space as a rental venue to provide fiscal stability.
While the City owns the property, the nonprofit Santa Monica Pier Corporation (SMPC) is responsible for managing various programs and services at the Santa Monica Pier under a Services Agreement with the City. They handle marketing, community programming, coordination of filming and private events, and street performer lotteries. The SMPC submitted its annual budget and work plan for the fiscal year 2023-24 to the City Council for review and approval prompting questions over plans to cover projected shortfalls.
The budget includes revenues from various sources such as rentals, promotions, partnerships, filming, grants, and sales of merchandise and food/beverages. Expenses cover personnel, facility charges, programming, marketing, merchandise, and contingencies.
The SMPC’s budget for the upcoming year projects total revenues of $1,912,000 and estimated expenditures of $1,945,000, resulting in a projected shortfall of $33,000. This deficit will be covered by SMPC reserve funds. The budget showed a comparison with the previous year, indicating that the FY 2022-23 actuals are expected to end with a surplus of $52,000 instead of the projected deficit of $15,000.
The Pier’s Executive Director, Jim Harris, said rentals have been the backbone of Pier financing for years and he said the same strong booking trend that saved last year’s budget is expected to contribute to, and potentially resolve, this year’s projected shortfall.
While event rentals are hard to predict, he said film permits have also been a highly variable, if valuable, asset to the budget.
However, he said a surprise donation prompted a new line of thought for Pier revenues.
"This year, we actually, by surprise, were awarded a generous donation from somebody who was involved with the Pier’s past. So we’re going to turn our focus toward that, towards reaching out for more donations, because we feel that people love the Pier to a degree and we’re a nonprofit so it’s tax deductible. Also, we’re going to create unique and special merchandise items," he said.
He said additional bookings had already come in since the budget was prepared that will help offset the shortfall shown on paper and film permits are also increasing.
"One of the one of the things that we learned while the Pier parking deck was closed to parking was that it was actually a very good space for base camps for smaller film shoots. And and that’s just added revenue," he said.
The Pier’s proposed work plan outlines the activities and programs the SMPC plans to undertake during the fiscal year. The focus this year will be on expanding free public programming, community engagement, and introducing a new historical walking tour of the Pier in addition to developing new revenue sources.
