HOBART consultants MMC Link will decide whether an admission charge should be applied to Launceston's Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.
Alderman Tony Peck failed to win support from the council yesterday for its own investigation into an $8 charge for residents outside Launceston.
He said each Launceston ratepayer was unfairly forced to pay $130 each year to maintain the regional facility.
Alderman Ian Norton said an admission charge was last applied in 2003 and led to a drastic attendance drop and verbal abuse of staff by patrons unhappy with the charge.
``My concern is that if we do this, we will greatly impede the progress of that facility,'' Alderman Norton said.
The council has recruited consultancy MMC Link for a business study on both museum facilities.
Council general manager Robert Dobrzynski said an admission charge would be investigated in that report.
Several alderman yesterday said they wanted to wait for the report before deciding to instigate a separate investigation.
Alderman Jim Cox said he would be interested in the consultants' opinion on maintaining two facilities, at Royal Park and Inveresk, when he believed the council could barely afford to look after one.
The Royal Park site, which reopened in September 2011 after a major overhaul, received 28,430 visitors in the first year, compared with 97,158 at Inveresk.
The council pays $4.3 million each year for both facilities and the state government contributes $1.28 million.
Mr Dobrzynski said last week that the council would seek a change in the state government's funding share when the agreement expired next year.
