Fee schedule could put damper on community events

Nonprofit organizations say new costs will have effect on fundraisers

Boulder City's newly adopted fee schedule for the use of city facilities has put a dent in the Boulder City Hospital Foundation's donation to the medical facility that was raised by this month's Art in the Park, and on top of that, will cost community organizations thousands of dollars in contributions to be made from two upcoming Community Club events scheduled for later this year.

And that's just the beginning of what other individuals, groups and nonprofit organizations will feel in the months ahead as the new fees become more apparent to event coordinators and organizers of activities in the city's parks and buildings.

According to the hospital's director of business development, the foundation was looking to net $200,000 from the Oct. 6 and 7 event -- money earmarked for capital improvements at the hospital. However, the foundation will reimburse roughly 3.5 percent of that amount to pay for the fees the city initiated in July.

"This is our sole fundraiser for the year, and we're looking at reducing the revenue that goes to the hospital by $7,000," Craig Bailey said.

The hospital official said the foundation had absorbed the cost this year, but for the next year and beyond, it probably will be a different story.

"It didn't affect our participation this year because we didn't pass the cost on to the artists," Bailey said. "After this year's event, we'll look at it, re-evaluate it and see how we want to handle it next year. Next year is when we'll find out."

Bailey said it wasn't fair to pass the $10 per day per vendor fee on to the 350 artists who participated in this year's 45th annual event because most of them had signed up last October and November for their $450 booths, long before the fee schedule went into effect.

Likewise, the 65-member Boulder City Community Club is planning its initial Harvest Bazaar for Saturday and Sunday and the annual Doodlebug Craft Bazaar for Dec. 1. Both events will raise funds for various local organizations, but the new fees will reduce the amount of money each group will get.

"The bulk of the Community Club fundraising money goes toward the community," club President Veronica Huening said. "Since the money goes back into the community, why do we have to pay? It's sort of like double-dipping. It's kind of insulting."

Last year, according to Huening, the Community Club raised $1,000 each for Emergency Aid, the Senior Center, Lend-A-Hand, Safe Nest and the Boulder City Hospital's helipad project, $500 for the Boulder Dam Museum, $100 for the Damboree celebration, an unknown amount for the Boulder City Police Department, and $2,500 for the Parks and Recreation Department -- the city agency charged with collecting the fees.

"What this does is it kind of eats into our availability of funds for donations," Huening said. "The donations we make are going to shrink."

The new fee schedule approved by the City Council at its July 11 meeting replace a batch of 25-year-old fees that in years past were collected in whole, reduced or waived by city officials, depending on the circumstances.

According to Boulder City Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Jill Lagan, herself an event organizer of several annual events in the city, the new fees are going to affect everyone's bottom line, especially the smaller groups.

"I realize that fees have been on the books in the past and just weren't implemented. However, the collection of fees will now affect the number of events that will happen in town," she said. "I have had several entities already contact me with their concerns. It's my hope that with the increased fees, the money goes to the proper city department to offset the costs for such things as water, power and streets, because these are the departments that end up paying overtime for these events and the money should be going to those divisions. The city staff goes over and above what they need to do, and they're worth it."

A comparison of some of the charges in the new and old fee structures show the amount of increases being faced by organizers and coordinators.

A Boulder City nonprofit organization wanting to use the Multi-Use Building in Broadbent Park and its kitchen for a four-hour banquet would have been charged $50 based on the old fees, but under the new fee structure, the same organization would have to pay $72.

Up until July, any Boulder City individual, group or service organization wanting to hold an event like a parade or carnival that may have required a police or fire department presence was not charged under the schedule of fees adopted in December 1982.

Now, if they are needed, it costs $50 an hour for a police officer, $65 an hour for a police sergeant, $55 an hour for a K-9 unit, $60 an hour for a motorcycle unit, $10 an hour per patrol car, $50 an hour for a firefighter/paramedic/EMT, $120 an hour for an advanced life support ambulance/rescue unit with two people, and $250 an hour for a fire engine/aerial truck.

New charges that are contained in the resolution approved three months ago include fees for Veterans Memorial Splash Park -- $40 per day for the 30-foot gazebo; any of three city gyms -- $25 per hour; the Youth Center -- $50 for a minimum of three hours; and classrooms -- $25 per hour.

While charges for the Senior Center were dropped, charges for the use of the Bootleg Canyon Recreation Area were added.

For a Bootleg Canyon exclusive event of more than 1,000 participants -- such as last month's OutdoorDemo as part of the Interbike convention in Las Vegas -- the use fee alone for four days is $8,400, plus any applicable charges for police and/or fire services.

Parks and Recreation Director Roger Hall defended the new fees, saying, "The fees and charges are necessary to help offset the operating costs of recreational facilities."

Whether the new fees can be tolerated and worked into budgets is one thing, but Lagan emphasized that the city needs to keep a keen eye on how they affect the city and its tourism-related economy.

"Special events are key for a majority of the businesses and also as a way to bring the community together for the residents," she said. "So it's important to think about the change ... in fees and how it has an effect on the entire community."