As the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce heads toward its historic merger with Ypsilanti’s business advocacy group on June 1, its leadership will receive year-end financial results showing the third straight year of losses.

The 2009 financials are being finalized, said Ron Maurer, treasurer. They’ll be presented Tuesday to the chamber’s Board of Directors.

Both Maurer and President Karl Couyoumjian said the loss is less than in 2008, when the chamber overspent revenue by $195,368. The loss in 2007 was $33,175.

How the chamber got into that position has been part of community speculation, following the group’s move into larger offices in 2008, then the resignation of former President Jesse Bernstein in 2009 and the December announcement that it would merge with the Ypsilanti chamber this spring.

Missing from much of that public discussion has been detail on the chamber’s finances.

Yet as a non-profit with revenue over $25,000, the group must file annual IRS returns, including Form 990, which also must be made accessible to the public.

So while many of the answers to the questions have been available, if not made immediately visible by various chamber leaders who, over time, have declined to discuss specific finances.

That continues with last year’s results: Maurer declined to release details of 2009 results - or the IRS Form 990 - until after Tuesday’s meeting.

But the numbers from 2008 do show erosion in the fund balance - effectively the chamber’s savings account - over the past couple of years.

Membership has declined, dropping to 1,250 last fall from about 1,350 a year earlier, according to earlier reports. Yet membership dues went up to $582,516, from $557,516.

Interest income fell, too, from $38,663 to $11,185 as the national investment climate shifted.

Rental payments went up with the move to a 6,300-square-foot office in the KeyBank Building at 115 W. Huron. That office costs the chamber $145,055 per year in rent, according to filings.

Additional costs in 2008 were $6,657 in personal property taxes, $39,091 in office expense and $14,298 for information technology.

Last fall, the chamber put the office - in whole or in part - up for sublease.

“When that decision was made, it was based on projections that there was going to be an increase in membership and revenue, plus gathering partnership to possibly help fill the space,” Couyoumjian said. “That obviously didn’t happen.”

Now, as the chamber is poised to unite with the Ypsilanti Area Chamber of Commerce, the group’s leadership believes its balance sheet and operating fundamentals are stronger.

One element is payroll. At the president level, the pay was reset to an $85,000 to $100,000 per year position when it was advertised last fall, down from $122,000.

Another is the hope that a tenant will be found for the Ann Arbor office space, letting the group spend less on overhead by relocating.

And chamber leadership expects a balanced budget going forward.

They attribute much of the 2009 losses to the chamber’s decision to reimburse buyers of the Ann Arbor Gold gift certificates after the company issuing them went bankrupt. That, Couyoumjian said, was the right decision for the community despite the cost.

Membership is down to 1,150, Couyoumjian said, mostly representing the loss of single members, while most corporate memberships were retained.

New President Diane Keller is formulating her own plans for serving the larger business community that will be under her combined leadership, with an ultimate goal of adding to membership.

She’s also making staff adjustments - three positions have been eliminated across both chambers - and considering options for office space. The Ann Arbor office is under lease until 2017 - a deal that will cost the chamber over $1 million until then - while the Ypsilanti office commitment will last about three more years.

Couyoumjian considers the merger the best step for the groups involved, the business community and the region. He said he hopes it stands as an example of consolidation success.

“The merger,” Couyoumjian said, “… wasn’t done out of necessity.”

That appears to be true on the Ypsilanti side, too, based on filings dating up to May 31, 2007.

The Ypsilanti chamber, in that fiscal year, reported $157,000 in membership revenue, a net cost to rent its office of just over $23,000, and year-end total of $10,753 in revenue over expenses.

Looking forward, Maurer said, he expects 2010 this year to show break-even results or better as both groups until their membership, mission and balance sheets.

“We think we’ve stabilized,” Maurer said.

And the decision to merge with the Ypsilanti chamber -while not driven by financials, Coumoujian said - positions both groups to operate most efficiently within its revenue.

“I think we’re right-sized,” Couyoumjian said. “Right now it looks like we’ve got things in balance.”

Paula Gardner is Business News Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her at 734-623-2586 or by email. Sign up for the weekly Business Review newsletter, distributed every Thursday, here.