County will set new fees for fairgrounds

The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners agreed by consensus to a fee schedule for non-profit groups that charge gate admission Monday, agreeing to charge 20 percent of any profit as a usage fee.

Commissioners requested that the county manager bring a written copy of the plan to the board for approval at its next meeting.

"If they don't make money, we're not asking them to pay us," said County Manager Don Adams.

The Fairgrounds Board recommended the fee change after discussion on the subject, he noted.

"They had been discussing charging 20 percent of the gross," he said, which would mean organization would have to pay the fairgrounds its cut off the top before figuring profit numbers. Adams said the concern was raised that some events could lose money if the fee was calculated in that way.

Under the net calculation for the fee, only profits will be considered when calculating the amount to be charged. He said the calculation would allow for expenses, such as paying people who do work for the event, but would not include money given to other non-profits to help with the event. At Adams request, the commissioners agreed that the manager or recreation manager, currently Amy Pardue, has the authority to check the figures of the non-profit group to verify the profit numbers.

Adams explained that the new fee schedule would, in effect, make it mandatory for all non-profits that use the fairgrounds and charge admission to help pay to support the fairgrounds facility. Those events that do not charge admission would not be required to pay the fee, he said.

The fee money will go to the county and be placed in the fairgrounds budget line, he said.

"So this money goes back into the facility itself?" Commissioner Patrick Woodie asked rhetorically.

Adams described the move as a "good first step for the non-profits." He said it is not yet clear what it will really cost the county to run the fairgrounds. "At some point it will become much, much clearer what it will cost" to operate the fairgrounds.

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