Another year, another round of tough choices for the Allegheny Regional Asset District board.

		Chart: Regional Asset District funding, 2004 allocations and 2005 requests, in .pdf format

When the seven-member board meets tonight to usher in a new season of giving to regional attractions and local arts, music and cultural groups, it will be facing many of the same pressures pushing family budgets to the limits -- lots of demands, not enough cash.

Faced with stagnant county sales tax revenues and requests for operating funds totaling $76.3 million, plus an addition $6.6 million for capital projects, the board will have a tough time divvying up the pot.

"It's going to be a competitive year. I don't know how else to describe it," RAD Executive Director David Donahoe said.

The biggest problem facing board members this fall is the lack of growth in revenues from the 1 percent county sales tax used to fund the district. The revenues have been flat since 2001, and it doesn't look as if the small growth projected for 2004 will materialize.

The board earmarked $72.7 million in tax revenues to fund the 2004 budget of $75.7 million, with the rest coming from reserves. But Donahoe said that at the current pace, sales tax receipts will end up at $70 million to $70.5 million, meaning the board may have to eat further into its $14 million reserve fund to meet this year's obligations.

That could leave little flexibility for 2005, given that the board wants to keep 5 percent of its total budget, or $11 million, in reserve, on the advice of its financial consultants.

With reserves falling and revenues flat, RAD board chairman Dan Griffin said it may be time for some arts, cultural or music organizations to think about merging if they are to survive and prosper.

"I think what you saw at the [Pittsburgh] Center for the Arts is not necessarily an aberration," he said, referring to the organization's decision to suspend operations and lay off 13 employees. "Everyone is having financial problems. It's tougher and tougher to have all these groups exist at once."

Griffin said the board faces another tough fall trying to determine which groups should receive what.

"It's never easy but it's always rewarding," he said. "The quote I always remember from [former RAD board chairman] David Matter is he said he never realized how hard it would be to give away money. They all make good cases."

Given the tight finances, Griffin said it is possible that some organizations could face funding cuts for 2005. The board also plans to continue a policy of not awarding any more than $100,000 in capital grants to individual organizations other than the city and county parks.

The number of organizations that have requested 2005 funding -- 104 -- is down from the 107 that applied last fall. For 2004, the board funded 86 groups and attractions.

Of the money to be divvied up, $13.4 million goes each year to pay the debt on PNC Park and Heinz Fieldand another $3.2 million is earmarked to pay for past improvements at Mellon Arena.

Nine so-called "contractual assets" also are eligible for a base level of operating funding each year. They include the county regional parks, the city regional parks, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museums, The National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, and Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.

All are seeking fairly small increases in operating assistance for 2005. The city parks also are asking for $3.3 million in capital funding, the largest of any organization. The county parks are asking for $1.6 million in capital funding.

Of other groups and organizations, the Pittsburgh Symphony, which has been struggling with financial problems, is asking for another $250,000 to add to the $1 million it received this year.

The Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, which was forced to lay off 11 employees last spring to cover a projected $500,000 shortfall, is requesting a $155,000 increase in the $295,000 RAD allocation it received this year.

Andy Masich, the history center's president and chief executive officer, said officials are asking for the extra money to offset reductions in state funding, which has been cut in half in recent years.

He also said the center has been hit with significant increases in insurance costs since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"We determined this year to ask for our real need. That's the number we settled on. RAD has been very supportive of us in the past," he said.

If no increase is awarded, Masich said additional cutbacks may be required. The center also is requesting a $100,000 grant to build a bus drop-off area in front of the building.

The African American Cultural Center also is seeking a large increase, from $275,000 this year to $400,000 in 2005.

Cultural Center President and CEO Neil Barclay said the additional funding would be used for additional staff support as the center begins the public phase of a $32.7 million campaign to build its proposed four-story complex near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Officials also want to begin exhibitions and performances now in anticipation of the capital campaign and to build up the level of awareness and interest in the new center, Barclay said.

Six groups are applying for funding for the first time this fall: The Jewish Community Center, $33,333, for the American Jewish Museum; the Botanical Garden of Western Pennsylvania, $50,000, for a proposed botanical garden at Settlers Cabin Park; Pittsburgh Arts & lectures, $20,000; the Pittsburgh Chess Club, $9,500; the Union Project, $2,500, to develop a community arts center in the East End; and Veronica's Veil Players, $9,000 in capital funding.

After hearing pitches for funding over the next month, the board plans to release a preliminary budget on Oct. 4, with final adoption scheduled Nov. 29.

Since its first year in 1995, the RAD has allocated nearly $680 million in funding for regional attractions, sports facilities, and cultural, music, and arts organizations.