San Antonio Symphony News and Archive

Symphony cuts partial paycheck once again




By Kristina Paledes

from the San Antonio Express News 4/1/98



For the third payday in a row, musicians and staff of the San Antonio Symphony received only 20 percent of their pay Tuesday.

As the San Antonio Symphony's subscription renewal campaign winds down, the board again has found itself short of sufficient cash to make payroll.

David Schillhammer, symphony executive director, and Lee Hipp, symphony tubist and chairman of the orchestra committee, both confirmed Tuesday's paychecks fell 80 percent short.

"The checks were released at noon," Schillhammer said. "We obviously still are running about a week behind (in cash flow) and we expect to make full restitution for the payroll in about seven days."

The deadline for current season subscribers to renew without losing their seats was Tuesday.

"We continue to thank subscribers for renewing their subscriptions and their continuing vote of confidence for the San Antonio Symphony," Schillhammer said.

Symphony musicians and staff received short paychecks on Feb. 25 and March 13. In both cases, full restitution was received a week later when musicians and staff received additional paychecks.

Checks that come in for subscription renewals go immediately toward operating expenses, especially payroll, a standard practice for symphony orchestras across the country. The San Antonio Symphony expects to end the fiscal year, which ends with season on May 31, almost $1.5 million in the red.

Payments for health insurance and the pension fund are current, both Schillhammer and Hipp said.

"Health insurance payments have been made. We're current on all of our health insurance payments," Hipp said.

He explained that all health insurance is paid through the symphony organization. The pension plan is with the American Federation of Musicians.

"When we reached this point of cash-flow crisis, it was our decision as the orchestra committee that pension and health insurance had to be paid off first, and then we would take what was left over," Hipp said. "That was a decision we made on our own that management agreed to go ahead and follow."

He said that some payments in the fall to the pension fund had been late, and the board of the American Federation of Musicians "started to become worried about the abilities of the organization to continue the payments, which they are liable for. As long as we're working, that penision plan is responsible for that money even if it's not received."

"It was our decision not to risk the pension plan," Hipp said. "There was a lot of discussion with the pension trustees. The American Federation of Musicians is not interested in shutting down the San Antonio Symphony, for obvious reasons, so they work with us, and we're set up on a schedule where if they make the payments by the end of the month, there is no problem. Which gets back to our decision to make the pension payments first."

Schillhammer would not venture a guess about what will happen with the symphony's next paycheck, due April 15.



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