Links To Financials For California Academy Of Sciences and SF Botanical Garden

In my previous post, I noted that I has made some inquiries and got some responses regarding the $9 Million in funding that the Academy receives from the City.  I also noted that I had started a deep dive via ChatGPT, that generated more information than I had the energy to read through at that time.  I still have not read through any of it.  I planned to do so and post this coming weekend.  

This evening I received the following comment to that post:

Comment from Anonymous - I am interested in the inquiries you sent and the responses you received in turn regarding the Academy of Science's funding from the city!

In light of that, I'm posting the correspondence and links, for those who are interested, because honestly, who knows if I'll meet my goal this weekend.  So, thank you to Anonymous for asking.  At least now part of the info is up and documented. Again, I haven't read the info at these links, so I don't know if there will be any Academy info pertaining to what is seemingly related to the issue of slighted funding to Our Zoo.

To stay in chronological order, and provide the full educational thread, below are two of the email responses.  

I first inquired about the Botanical Garden.  I had learned many years ago that the Garden is independently managed, but it wasn't until I saw that extensive perimeter fence go up, while the Zoo's was crumbling did I think to find out the agreement specifics.  Of course I procrastinated, and years later, when I read about the $9 Million in City funding to the Academy, I finally inquired about both.  

First is the inquiry regarding the Botanical Garden.  After the information provided in the response, it appears there is no relevance to the Zoo issue.  That said, that is regarding funding.  I still think the Zoo should have been eligible for the fence project, as the Zoo is City owned.

I email my District Supervisor Connie Chan on occasion about Zoo and Park related issues.  While she is not the Supervisor for the District the Zoo is in, she is for the Park, and is also active in Zoo related issues, as well as having attended events in the past.  

In response to my inquiry, she looped in Beverly Ng, Directer of Policy and Public Affairs for RecPark.

Botanical Garden

Hi Sup. Chan and Kim,

My apologies for the late response. The Botanical Garden Society does not receive a management fee. Instead, the Society is reimbursed each year for approved expenses related to operating the Garden's admissions program, including a portion of staff time. These reimbursements are included in the Department's annual budget and approved each year.

This is very different from the arrangement with the San Francisco Zoo.

At the Zoo, the property is leased to a nonprofit organization that is responsible for operating and maintaining the entire facility. The nonprofit collects all revenue, pays all operating expenses, and the City provides an annual payment to help offset the cost of managing the site.

At the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the Recreation and Park Department continues to own, operate, and maintain the Garden. Under the operating agreement, the Botanical Garden Society manages admissions and provides community education programs. The Department collects all admission revenue, reimburses the Society for its approved admissions and education expenses, and uses the remaining revenue to help cover Garden maintenance costs. Any surplus is deposited into the Garden Maintenance Fund, where it is used by the Department to maintain and improve the Garden. 

I hope this is helpful. I've also included a link to the legislation that covers the lease agreement

Many thanks,

Beverly 

Academy Of Sciences

Hello Kim, 

https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15573397&GUID=27F3A487-CD18-4DFD-B90D-B330E00B4D68 

This is the link to California Academy of Sciences budget and here is the budget for the City’s general fund departments: 

https://sfgov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=8060298&GUID=BE438692-C8D2-45AF-9B5A-1C8FF488A48E 

--  Connie