The Town Council has approved use agreements for the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce and the Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association (FHCCA) related to fees for use of Town facilities for events and activities.

The agreements are a spinoff from the council discussions regarding fee waivers for various groups that use Town facilities for events. The Town has eliminated full fee waivers for activities.

It was decided that the complexity of the Chamber events and FHCCA activities fees should be determined by negotiating separate use agreements. Those were presented to the council on June 7. The council agreed that the fee agreements would go into effect with the new fiscal year, with the exception of use by the Community Chorus and Community Band. Fees for use by these groups will be deferred one year to allow time for them to determine how to fund the fee requirements.

Community Services Director Rachael Goodwin outlined the FHCCA agreement.

“It waives the use fees for the identified partner programs, which include Dark Skies Fest, Leadership Academy, Bingo, Munch and Music, Encore Presentations, and Time 4 U technology service,” Goodwin said.

In addition, it grants FHCCA 50 hours of classroom use, annually. These hours can be distributed and used by any group within the FHCCA organization. The anticipation is that the FHCCA will divvy up the hours internally to whatever groups they see fit. Once those 50 hours have been expended, the reduced fee rates would be in effect for any additional hours. That fee structure is outlined as the standard non-profit classroom rates are $25/hour, therefore the local non-profit rate is $12.50/hour.

The waiver also includes the use of the Grand Ballroom with the four individual ballrooms for FHCCA for two full weekends annually (Friday through Sunday). Like the classrooms, the FHCCA can use the weekends as they see fit and allocate them to whatever group they choose within their organization. Any additional ballroom use would be charged at the reduced fee rate for local nonprofits. Standard non-profit ballroom rates are $50/hour on weekdays and $75/hour on weekends. Therefore, the local non-profit rate is $25/37.50 respectively.

“It is assumed that the two weekends will be allocated to the choir and or band, however that is at the discretion of the FHCCA board,” Goodwin said.

The discussion was focused on the choir and band, as they are the largest users of the Community Center in terms of the number of rooms and hours.

“In light of this, the council deferred the fees for choir and band ballroom use for one year to allow them time to assess the new agreement and develop a plan of approach,” she said. “The two-weekend portion of the agreement will be suspended and take effect July 1, 2023. The rest of the terms and conditions will take effect as of July 1, 2022.”

There are seven events staged by the Chamber of Commerce annually and the Town has traditionally waived fees for them. The standard fee value for the seven events, which includes both arts and crafts shows, totals $45,000. The agreement would use the local/non-profit fees of half at $22,500.

Goodwin noted that the town provides additional support for these events including on-call staff, road closures and some MCSO costs, Fountain operation, holiday lights and audio-visual equipment for Community Center events.

There are also a couple of companion events hosted by the Town such as the Turkey Trot in conjunction with the Thanksgiving Day Parade and Roll in the Glow with the Chamber’s Stroll in the Glow.

Staff also recognized significant financial benefits the Town receives as a result of these events.

Scott Summer, incoming Chairman for the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, told the council they oppose the proposed agreement. He noted that the Chamber events bring hundreds of thousands of people to the community each year (an independent study done in the late 1990s indicates an approximately $2 million annual benefit).

“Any kind of fee impedes our ability to support our members,” Summer said. “Any sort of fees need to be passed on to members. Continuing the fee waiver would best illustrate your commitment to business.”

The council also heard from members of the chorus and band.

Band member Gene Mikolajczyk said having to pay the fees would have serious adverse impact on both groups.

“We are self-funded, members pay dues to participate on a volunteer basis,” Mikolajczyk said. “We would cease to participate if asked to pay these fees.”

He noted that the town realizes significant benefit from having the two cultural and entertainment groups in the community. He said that from the self-funding dues they hire staff to maintain the quality presentations for the community, and they have to pay music rights.

Roger Riggert said the chorus is one of the older organizations in town.

“I don’t believe raising ticket prices is an option,” Riggert said. “You need to modify (this plan) to protect this historic organization.”

Councilman David Spelich, who initiated the staff review of fees and fee waivers in 2020, reminded the council they had been losing more than $200,000 a year in fee waivers. This is the effort that led to eliminating the waivers.

“These agreements that are brought forward are predicated on the idea that we, the Town, recognize the value and contributions of these two groups,” Spelich said. “However, we have (recently) passed a fee reduction policy that offers half off our already reduced pricing for all local non-profits, which these groups fit under.

“Now we are drawing up deals to further reduce the cost for two chosen groups. How many more local groups will request the same?

“I’m not asking everyone to pay a full share – I recognize both groups offer substantial community benefits – but an unrestrained blank check is not the answer.

“We have asked staff to find ways to be more fiscally responsible and as a council, we must do the same. We cannot sit here and take action to correct these free passes – they represent financial gifts we cannot afford to give.”

The council split it votes to approve both of the fee agreements. The vote related to the FHCCA included the deferral for the chorus and band for one year to allow them to develop financial options.