Q: Who owns the Santa Maria?
A: The ship continues to be owned by Columbus Santa Maria, Inc,
the non-profit group that built the ship.
Q: What does the City of Columbus do?
A: The Department of Recreation and Parks of the City of Columbus
has contracted to run the Santa Maria, at least through the year
2000.
Q: How much is this costing the taxpayers of Columbus?
A: Based on 1996 revenue, the ship should break even. No tax dollars
have been budgeted to pay for operating the Santa Maria.
Q: Where does the operating money come from then?
A: From admission tickets and fundraising done by Columbus Santa
Maria, Inc.
Q: What about the $100,000 bailout?
A: The proposed 1997 City budget contained $91,000 as a contingency
fund in case the City decided to reduce or eliminate admission
prices. This was removed from the final budget but some TV newscasts
picked up on the contingency fund saying, "$100,000 of your
money is going to bail out this sinking ship." This was an
incorrect statement.
Q: If the ship can break even then why didn't Columbus Santa Maria continue to operate it?
A: The City has eliminated the ship's administrator position. These duties can be picked up by various current employees of the City at no additional expense. This eliminates the ship's largest operating expense.