The Kentucky Horse Park Foundation was created in 1985 with the sole purpose of providing private philanthropic support to benefit the Kentucky Horse Park. Since our founding, the foundation has provided over $30 million in improvements and financial support for the park.
The ONLY goal of our board of directors and staff members has been, and continues to be, to raise private money to support the needs of the horse park. More information about the KHP Foundation’s long history of support can be found here: http://www.khpfoundation.org/sites/default/files/Enhancing-the-Park-Today.pdf
The Kentucky Horse Park Foundation staff and board members have only ever acted with the best interests of helping the park be the best place it can be for its many annual visitors.
Every decision that has been made by the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation board and staff has been done so with the purest of motives in order to further the park’s initiatives and goals, as identified by the park’s leadership.
The Kentucky Horse Park Foundation has been proud to share Southern Lights with the citizens of Kentucky over the past 23 years. Since its founding, this beloved holiday event has been a partnership between the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and the Kentucky Horse Park, attracting over 120,000 annual visitors to the park to view the Southern Lights.
The Foundation purchased all of the light displays, covered all costs related to promoting and putting on the event, and provided event logistical administration annually.
Historically, the Park provided manpower to put up the lights.
The State Auditor’s office is correct that until 2009 there was a revenue sharing arrangement as part of the contract related to Southern Lights. However, from 2009 until last year the park’s leadership had agreed to waive the revenue sharing in exchange for the KHP Foundation paying the millions of dollars in loans related to the construction of a three barn complex that the park needed built in order to host the 2010 World Equestrian Games. These three barns cost over $4.5 million to construct, the construction of which was funded entirely through a combination of philanthropic capital support from private donors plus the revenue generated by KHP Foundation fundraising efforts, primarily Southern Lights.
The barns, upon their completion in 2010, were donated to the Kentucky Horse Park so that the park might generate revenue directly from their rental, which it has been doing since that time. While the barn revenue was being realized by the park, the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation continued to pay the principal and interest on the barn loans until they were paid in full.
The State Auditor’s office has failed to note that since 2009, the Foundation has continued to donate a significant portion of the annual Southern Lights revenue directly to the park every year.
In fact, the Foundation provides well over $100,000 in direct support annually to pay for the Kentucky Horse Park’s Volunteer Program, underwrite all costs related to the hosting, maintenance and content management of the KHP and International Museum of the Horse websites, and provide a “park support” line item in the foundation’s operating budget which can be spent at the discretion of the executive director of the park to meet needs not otherwise funded through the park’s own budget.
The special audit also failed to note that the Kentucky Horse Park realizes a great deal of income directly through Southern Lights related to its gift shop revenue, riding concession and food service revenue generated through the Southern Lights event, in the off season at a time when the park’s visitors would be minimal were it not for Southern Lights.
The Kentucky Horse Park Foundation’s focus has never wavered. It was created as a public-private partnership to generate private revenue for the benefit of the park. Moving forward the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation will continue to raise private support to benefit the park. The Foundation will work with the park’s current leadership to ensure this is accomplished in a way that meets all state rules and regulations, as we have striven to do previously with every park administration since 1985.
Laura Klumb, Executive Director and
Cabby Boone, Chairman of the Board
This letter is what’s wrong with Kentucky. The audit said the foundation used state employees for its light show. This letter admits that. You want to raise money to help the Horse Park, great. But don’t spend my tax dollars to do it so you can give yourself a pat on the back and give more blue bloods free tickets and drinks.