Proposed park use fees could impact market vendors

Whitefish’s Parks and Recreation department is proposing to increase park use fees this year with the intent of more accurately covering costs to maintain heavily used facilities such as Depot Park. The proposed rates will impact some of Whitefish’s most popular summer events, including the downtown Tuesday farmers market, Huckleberry Days and Oktoberfest, with a fivefold increase of fees in some cases.

City Council will review the proposed fee schedule at their regular meeting Jan. 7 at City Hall.

Parks director Karl Cozad notes in his staff report that adjustments are made annually to the fee schedule in order to maintain a close relationship between the cost of upkeep at city parks and fees charged.

The proposed 2013 fee schedule will bump the cost of hosting a special event at Depot Park from $200 per day to $300 per day. A discounted rate for nonprofits would jump from $150 per day to $225 per day. Cozad notes that 96 percent of special events are hosted by nonprofit groups and that most occur at Depot Park.

One proposed addition to the fee schedule is a $500 event support fee. Some multi-day events require the assistance of city staff, Cozad said, which may include specialists that are not normally provided by park staff. Multi-day events, Cozad said, often require staff to perform substantial repairs to park infrastructure due to misuse of the facility and the placement of large tents and stages within the park.

Another proposed change is the addition of a park use fee based on the number of vendors in attendance.

The proposed fee ranges from no charge for one to five vendors, $100 for six to 15 vendors, $200 for 16-25 vendors, $300 for 26-35 vendors, $400 for 36-45 vendors, and $500 for 46 or more vendors.

Cozad said the number of vendors is a strong indicator as to the size of the event and what related expenses will occur in the city’s effort to maintain the park.

Organizers of the downtown Tuesday farmers market would be facing a substantial increase in user fees with the proposed schedule.

The 2012 fee schedule called for $60 per date, which was lower than the half-day nonprofit rate of $75. The new fee schedule calls for the half-day nonprofit rate of $115 per date, plus a $200 vendor fee per date, assuming there are about 25 vendors. All totaled, farmers market organizers would pay $5,985 to host the event for 19 dates this year, opposed to the $1,140 paid last year.

In order to offset the increased fees, market vendors could face an increased site fee from $1 per week, plus market sales commission, to closer to $10 per week, plus sales commission, farmers market organizers say.

Huckleberry Days would pay $1,900 for the four-day festival, opposed to $600 paid last year. Same goes for the July 4 art show.

Fees for Oktoberfest, which runs for seven dates, would increase from $1,050 in 2012 to $2,075.

Even with the proposed increases, Cozad calls Whitefish’s park use fees the “best buy” in the valley.

In Kalispell, the cost of hosting an event that draws 200-500 people is $360 per date plus individual vendor fees ranging from $10-$15. In Columbia Falls, an event with 500 people would be $400 per day plus a 10 percent administration fee.

Council will also consider a Depot Park management and maintenance plan proposed by the parks department at the Jan. 7 meeting.