The future of Access Tucson, a public access TV station, may be in jeopardy if a 60 percent financing cut is approved by the City Council at its Jan. 12 meeting.
The meeting will outline cuts to several agencies, including Access Tucson, said Mark Kerr, an aide to City Councilor Steve Kozachik. The cuts will affect fiscal 2010, which ends on June 30.
Kerr said two council members suggested cutting financing for nongovernmental agencies to balance the budget.
Sam Behrend, executive director for Access Tucson, said that the group had already used a large part of its budget, and that cuts would leave the station scrambling.
“If it passed we wouldn’t see a penny at all,” he said of the cut.
Repeated efforts to reach council members about the proposed cuts were unsuccessful. The City Council meeting will be at 2 p.m. at the Leo Rich Theatre at the Tucson Convention Center. The meeting will include a presentation of the cuts, followed by a discussion.
Access Tucson was created in 1984 and serves as a public forum featuring local shows on music, arts and politics, Behrend said. It also provides a place for members of the community to create media and attend classes.
The station receives 80 percent of its financing from the city, Behrend said. The other 20 percent comes from fundraisers and grants, and from classes offered to the public.
The city finances Access Tucson through a $1.38 monthly cable tax, Behrend said.
Helen Soule, director of the Alliance for Community Media, a national advocacy group based in Washington, said that financing of public access stations has been cut nationwide.
Behrend said Access Tucson had already seen its budget cut by the city recently.
In December 2008, the middle of the last fiscal year, the city cut the station’s financing by 10 percent, and in July 2009, part of the current fiscal year, Access Tucson’s budget was cut by 15 percent, Behrend said.
If the proposed cuts are passed, Behrend added, the station will consider all its options, including adopting a model to operate with fewer employees. Access Tucson has 11 full-time and three part-time employees.
Jana Segal, a Tucson resident, has used Access Tucson’s services for about 13 years. She has used equipment to make short films, and her children have taken some of the station’s classes. She said she hopes the financing cuts are rejected.
“It will be just a crime” if there are cuts, Segal said. “One of the good things about Tucson is Access Tucson.”