A crop of regional museums is set to open across the country in the next few months, but one museum director has struck a note of caution about the ongoing running costs of institutions such as the Hepworth Wakefield, Turner Contemporary in Margate and Firstsite in Colchester.

Stephen Snoddy, director of the New Art Gallery Walsall, said: “After 18 months, a new venue needs to relaunch itself, so that visitor figures do not dramatically drop after the opening success, and income levels do not fall. It would be imprudent to budget for more than 15% of gross turnover from earned income.”

Annual running costs at the Turner Contemporary, which opens next month, will be about £2.2m a year. A spokeswoman said that 85% of this would be funded by Kent County Council and Arts Council England (ACE), with 15% generated through commercial opportunities.

The 5,000sq m Hepworth Wakefield in Yorkshire, which will be the largest purpose-built exhibition space outside London when it opens in May, is also relying on ACE funding.

It has applied to ACE’s national portfolio funding programme, which replaces its regular funding scheme, and expects to hear the outcome this month.

The gallery’s annual running costs will be about £2.5m, which will be met by a mix of private and public financing, with Wakefield council a principal funder.

The gallery received £64,844 from ACE in 2011-12. “It will need a minimum of £800,000 of ACE revenue funding or 40% of annual turnover, aligned with a guaranteed long-term Wakefield council financial commitment,” said Snoddy.

Meanwhile, Firstsite, a contemporary-art venue opening in Colchester in September, will be 50% funded by Essex County Council and Colchester Borough Council. It aims to raise the remainder through commercial sources.

M Shed, Bristol’s new flagship museum which opens in June, will explore the city’s history from prehistoric times to the 21st century.

“It will be funded through the core Bristol City Council budget and the Renaissance business plan for the transition year 2011-12,” said Julie Finch, director of Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives.

She added that M Shed had set out key areas for income generation based primarily on retail, corporate hire and catering activities. On the national museums front, operating costs for the £72m Museum of Liverpool, which opens in July, will be met through grant-in-aid funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

National Museums Liverpool will receive £20.5m from 2011-12, reduced to £19.7m in 2014-15, to cover the running costs of its eight sites, including the Museum of Liverpool.