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During its regular monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 28, the 49th District Agricultural Association’s Board of Directors approved a modest budget for operation of the county fairgrounds and the annual Lake County Fair event in 2012, according to fair Chief Executive Officer Richard Persons.
With revenues projected at $558,000 and expenses projected at $550,443, the budget leaves little room for error, Persons reported.
By comparison, the 2011 budget included $723,400 in revenues and $675,455 in expenditures.
Funding for California’s 76 fairgrounds was eliminated entirely from the State’s 2011-12 budget, which impacts the fair’s 2012 budget.
Persons said the change in funding forced the District Agricultural Association to examine both its revenue and expense streams, and to make changes in both in order to close the budget gap.
The largest single change was the layoff of 50 percent of the fair’s full-time staff, resulting in an estimated savings of $71,580.
Other cuts included a $22,071 – or approximately 9 percent – cut in administration, which Persons said came largely in benefit reductions.
Smaller cuts occurred in other areas, however, the Lake County Fair event was largely spared, he said.
“The Lake County Fair is the largest revenue stream for the association, and in order to continue to present the great event that Lake County residents expect, we worked very hard to avoid impacting it financially,” Persons said.
Numerous changes also have taken place on the revenue side of the budget, many of them phased in during 2011, he said.
Fairgoers at the 2011 Lake County Fair saw higher ticket prices, vendors saw higher booth space rents, the association required higher concession fees and entry fees for fair contests increased slightly, Persons reported.
In addition, Persons said higher rents for tenants renting fairgrounds buildings began to be phased in during 2011.
“The rental fee increases have been very hard for the Board of Directors,” said Persons.
Persons explained that 65 percent of the tenants who utilize the fairgrounds are nonprofit organizations, and most of them are doing fundraising.
“Many of those groups see the rental fee paid for the fairground as a necessary evil, something to be kept to a minimum so that funds can be concentrated on their nonprofit mission,” he said. “But most of those nonprofits also understand that without the facilities they use at the fairgrounds, their fundraising events are not possible, and the increased rent on the fairgrounds will help keep the facility open and allow them to continue to have their events, and to continue to keep the vast majority of the funds they raise.
He added, “I'm hopeful that Lake County Fairgrounds will be able to continue to provide a community event venue long into the future. But it cannot do so unless the community understands that the funds to operate the facility must come from the community, and that means tenants must share a larger portion of the funds they raise with the venue.”
The 2012 budget also eliminates all funding for major capital improvement projects, Persons said. Spending on capital projects has normally been between $65,000 and $300,000 per year, but is projected at zero for 2012.
The state has historically provided 80 to 90 percent of major capital improvement funding, which in recent years have included new water mains, a new horse barn, street improvements, new restrooms in the livestock area, and restroom improvements throughout the rest of the facility, Person said.
“The board’s first priority this year was to come up with a plan and a budget that keeps the fairgrounds open and makes sure that the 2012 Lake County Fair happens,” Persons said. “The plan and budget are now in place. Over the next few months, the board will be looking at ways to deal with capital improvement needs. That will probably mean forming some kind of a non-profit foundation similar to a hospital foundation or an arts foundation.”
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