Brown County Music Center
Shares Success with Community photos by Cindy Steele
After a year in which the Brown County Music Center hosted 66 events, bringing in about 81,000 visitors, some of its excess revenue is being shared with the community.
The music center paid about $ 54,000 to Brown County for payments in lieu of taxes, along with $ 66,750 as a share of excess revenue in 2023. In addition, the non-profit Brown County Community Foundation( BCCF) received $ 200,250, which will be either given to community organizations through grants or placed in a long-term endowment.
The payments were made because of an agreement between the center and the county when the structure was built. The county funded it, with operation and mortgage costs backed by the county’ s five percent innkeepers tax. The agreement stipulated that excess revenue from sale of tickets, food and drink would be distributed to the county and the community foundation.
64 Our Brown County • March / April 2024
At the time of the agreement, officials did not expect to accumulate excess revenue for many years, and did not foresee the lengthy shutdown period during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“ We are ecstatic to fulfill our mission statement by dispersing these funds back into our wonderful community, of which should have extreme positive and far-reaching rippling effects,” said Brown County Music Center Executive Director Christian Webb.“ While this is our inaugural year to disperse these funds into the community, we do not expect it to be our last. The continued efforts by venue staff, volunteers, board members and all community members alike will do nothing but serve this county for years to come.”
As part of the agreement, when BCCF receives the revenue, it is split into two funds. One supports arts and culture in the county, and the