A group of leaders in the Madison arts community convened to consider the next steps to address budget cuts for the Overture Center in the city’s budget, which members said could mean further cuts in staffing.

Mayor Paul Soglin opted to decrease the city’s Overture Center grant from the anticipated $1.9 million to $1.35 million in his 2012 Executive Operating Budget, which was a central point of discussion in the Wednesday Madison Cultural Arts District Board of Directors meeting.

This figure makes a substantial cut from the city’s $2 million grant promised earlier in 2011, MCAD President Thomas Carto said.

Board members said they were willing to absorb a 5 percent reduction and accept a $1.9 million grant, he said, but the funding drop to $1.35 million continues to pose “a big issue.”

Carto said that the body is concerned about the fate of Overture Center employees, saying drastic cuts could mean slashing staff salaries across the board.

“Our concern is employee morale – these folks committed to the foundation with the understanding that their salaries would remain the same,” he said.

Carto said as of the fiscal year ending June 30, 70 percent of Overture Center’s staff had agreed to stay on. Decreasing salaries could further impact this figure, he said.

Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said the main problem is that the city has a small amount of money being stretched thinly across a large number of departments.

Resnick said the limited nature of this year’s budget means the arts board has to remain open to compromise rather than sticking to its desired grant.

“I think that if there’s going to be compromise made – since the mayor has been saying that he’s going to make cuts to Overture for awhile – we can’t hold on to $1.9 million,” he said. “That may cut off opportunities to negotiate.”

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, agreed that Soglin would likely prove hard to convince to ensure the original budget for Overture remain intact.

“I think Paul [Soglin] had these [cuts] in mind all along. I don’t think our actions impacted his decision,” he said.

Despite facing these financial problems, Board representatives said the volume of programming activity organized through the center is very high. The Miles Davis Experience successfully kicked off the official season at Overture Monday night, and early sales figures for the rest of the year are promising, they said.

Carto said last week was a great success as the band Wilco’s show sold out and comedian Lewis Black’s stand-up show reached 93 percent capacity.

He also said this fall brings 11 shows to the Capitol Theater in collaboration with Frank Productions.

Another significant development for the Overture Center this year is the separation of the Overture Center and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

Board member Jim Ruhly said MMoCA has bought its building and is looking to change its status within the Overture Center.

Ruhly said MMoCA would no longer be considered a resident company and will instead simply be a neighbor entity for Overture.

“I think we should formally congratulate them on their new status and formally declare that this new status terminates the museum’s resident status,” he said. “We look forward to working with them.”