The Winterthur City Council has decided to instruct the Grand Municipal Council on the interim extension of the temporary subsidy contracts. This does not affect the subsidy contract with the Musikkollegium, which was approved in a referendum. It is open-ended.
The fixed-term subsidy contracts with 18 cultural institutions expire at the end of 2013. The application for contract extensions has been postponed due to cost-cutting discussions. The forthcoming renewal is to take place on an interim basis for 17 institutions; separate provisions will be issued for the Kunsthalle.
The contracts will be adopted unchanged. The cuts to individual subsidy contributions are not the subject of the application. However, they already contain a clause in the current version that allows the city to make cuts should it be forced to do so due to the financial situation.
In view of additional cantonal contributions and the strained financial situation, the city council considers it justifiable, writes the city, to reduce its own contributions to the Kunstverein, the Fotomuseum and the Kunsthalle by a total of CHF 200,000 for 2014 and until 2016 at the latest.
