Keeping Village Costs in Line

The idea of charging local organizations looking to hold an event in Garden City made its way to the floor again during the April 18 village board meeting.

Trustee Bob Bolebruch argued that organizations should pay the entire cost of the special event they'd like to hold in town, rather than 50 percent up to and including $5,000, a current requirement agreed upon by a previous board.

"If you look at all the parades and special events, it is costing the village over $47,000 a year in additional police costs," he said. "This does not take into account any other expenses that we may incur due to the event." 

The upcoming Belmont Festival was included on the April 18 agenda. The Garden City Chamber of Commerce is offering $5,000, as it's done in years past, to help offset some of the village costs associated with the annual June event.

Bolebruch said the festival, however, costs approximately $7,300. "Why aren’t they paying the entire cost that the village incurs?" he asked. "I believe that we need to start to have organizations pay the additional expenses that we are incurring when these parades and events occur in the village. There may be certain events where we would not charge but we should have a policy of covering our expenses going forward."

Trustee Nick Episcopia said the issue has been debated extensively over the years and that the previous board decided to cap the contribution amount at $5,000.
"If someone wishes to raise the cap that's certainly open for discussion, like a percent of the aggregate amount we spend. We don't think it comes to a massive amount of money," he said.

Mayor John Watras, however, said many of these events are "iconic" and good for the village. "We don't want to lose events either," he interjected, using the annual St. Patrick's Day parade as an example. The parade was last held in Garden City in 2011 before Mineola took it over.

"Well, when we sit here trying to bring things in line an event paying for expenses is beneficial to us," Bolebruch said, referring to the time and effort that went into this year's difficult budget process. Trustee Andrew Cavanaugh agreed with his point. "Everyone is getting some subsidy from the village and we do cap it," he said.

Trustee Dennis Donnelly, who serves as liaison to the Garden City business community, reminded Bolebruch that the village doesn't charge for certain events, including the Little League parade and Homecoming, which provides "no reimbursement whatsoever." "To make that equitable we'd have to charge everybody," he said.

Episcopia first brought this issue to the table back in January 2010 when the Garden City Teachers' Association (GCTA) first requested to hold its "GC For A Cure" charity event. He suggested organizations like the teacher's association and the Turkey Trot Committee cover 50 percent of the village's costs. Thanksgiving morning's annual Turkey Trot costs the village approximately $5,700 to $5,800 in police overtime and Department of Pubic Works clean up.

In August 2011, trustees voted 5-0 to amend the village's fee schedule to include fees for parades and special events in order to help offset village costs.

The following fundraising events are required to share in 50 percent of the village's overtime costs, not to exceed $5,000:

• GC For A Cure
• Belmont Festival
• Jay Gallagher Memorial Lacrosse Tournament
• Garden City Centennial SoccerFest
• Turkey Trot

• Little League Parade
  
• Chamber Easter Vintage Car Parade
• Adelphi Spring Concert
• Garden City Street Fair
• Memorial Day Parade
• Chamber Fall Festival/Homecoming
  
• Christmas Tree Lighting