HomeMy WebLinkAbout23 - Recommended Changes to the Special Event Support Funding ProcessCTY OF
F
NEWPORT BEACH
City Council Staff Report
April 14, 2015
Agenda Item No. 23
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Dave Kiff, City Manager — (949) 644 -3002, dkiff @newportbeachca.gov
PREPARED BY: Tara Finnigan, Assistant to the City Manager / Public Information Manager
PHONE: (949) 644 -3035
TITLE: Recommended Changes to the Special Event Support Funding Process
ABSTRACT:
The City of Newport Beach follows an ever - changing process to award grant monies to support Newport
Beach based special events. Staff continues to try and better the process and recently asked Council
Members Petros and Peotter for advice on how to further improve the process for FY 2015 -2016 event
support funding. Some of their suggestions, and some staff recommendations, are included within the
proposed changes to Special Event Support funding process.
RECOMMENDATION:
a) Approve the proposed revisions to an Administrative Policy regarding the Special Event Support
funding process;
b) Preliminarily determine that $300,000 is the appropriate amount to fund in the City's FY 2015 -2016
General Fund budget for special event support; and
c) Authorize staff to seek and review applications from event organizers and present funding
recommendations for City Council approval.
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS:
The City Manager will be recommending up to $200,000 in support for Signature Events and up to
$100,000 for the Community and Charitable event support in the City's proposed FY 2015 -2016 General
Fund budget. If approved by the City Council, the FY 2015 -2016 budget includes sufficient funding for this
item. Signature event grants would be expensed to 0340 -8250 (Economic Development) and the proposed
Community and Charitable event fee credits would be expensed to 0110 -8250 (City Council).
23 -1
DISCUSSION:
Background
The City of Newport Beach has a practice of supporting community events. Until five years ago, most
requests for support were handled on a case -by -case basis without a formal, coordinated process
described in an administrative or Council policy. While this approach was responsive to community
requests, it was decentralized among various City departments and the support provided was challenging
to track and quantify. Some members of the public complained that "the City is picking which charities my
tax dollars support" in a less than transparent way.
In an effort to contain costs while continuing to support community events, the City developed a more
public administrative process in 2010 for allocating event support. (Administrative processes are those
followed by the City Manager and staff consistent with the City Charter and Municipal Code.) The new
process was intended to provide transparency and equity in how the funding is allocated, comply with the
Municipal Code, and help contain City costs while continuing to support local events that provide charitable
fundraising opportunities, encourage community engagement, and /or foster economic development.
The current process includes an annual, public call for applications, an application review, funding
recommendations assigned, and funding recommendations forwarded to the City Council for review,
approval or amendment. The support is later provided to the recipients in the form of special event grants.
The grants are intended to ensure that each group receives exactly what the Council approved and provide
for a transparent record of where the City allocated the funding. Before receiving the grant money, each
event organizer must enter into an agreement with the City that specifies the public money must be used to
execute the event and gives the City the right to audit the event's financials, should there be a need.
It should be noted that the process has been modified during the past few years in response to applicant
concerns and new ideas proposed by Council Members and staff. Staff lengthened the application period,
shortened the application, and changed how the applications are reviewed.
Despite these efforts, we continue to disappoint some applicants. With a set amount of special event
funding set aside in the City budget, some applicants do not receive City support and those that do,
typically receive a percentage of the funding requested. In addition, all applications are reviewed and
considered at the same time, under the same criteria. Some applicants and others have expressed concern
that the smaller, community or charity- oriented events compete in the same "funding pool" as the larger,
multi -day, visitor - attracting events that typically draw people from throughout the region. The larger events
also receive significantly more City financial support. In addition, one event organizer strongly objected to
having to comply with the City's grant agreement requirements.
From the City's perspective, some of the elements of the current process are somewhat time - intensive for
staff to implement and manage, particularly, the issuance of the grant agreements.
Proposed Changes
To address these concerns, and in part thanks to the advice of Mr. Petros and Mr. Peotter, the staff is
proposing a number of changes to the current Special Event Funding Support process. (Please see
Attachment C for a draft of the proposed changes.)
The first change involves defining and distinguishing the types of events considered for funding. The
smaller, locally focused events would be referred to as "Community and Charitable" events. These are the
events that serve or benefit locally based organizations and causes and /or provide recreational, cultural,
social benefits to Newport Beach residents. Newport Beach -based organizations and events that serve our
community specifically, would receive priority in funding. The larger events would be referred to as
"Signature Events." These are the larger -scale events, based in Newport Beach, that promote the city
regionally, attract visitors and provide measurable, economic benefits to the City of Newport Beach.
23 -2
Next, staff is proposing a change to the form in which City support is provided to the Community and
Charitable events. Rather than providing cash grants and requiring grant agreements, the City would
provide Council- approved "fee credit" grants. These grants would be set at not -to- exceed levels that
correlate to the amount of City fees the applicant is expected to pay. The intention is to assist with the fees,
and the grants may not always cover all of an event's Special Event Permit and related City fees (such as
Police, Fire and other fees). If a grant awardee incurs City- related costs higher than the grant award, it
would owe the City the difference. If the awardee's costs are lower than was projected during the grant
award process, the City would keep the difference. Providing fee credits rather than cash grants would
eliminate the need for City grant agreements. The Signature events would still be given grants and be
required to enter into grant agreements.
Another proposed change involves clearly distinguishing the eligibility, qualification and evaluation and
using different evaluation criteria for the two categories of events. (The proposed criteria can be found in
Attachment C.)
The last significant change would be to set separate funding "tiers" for the two categories of events to
provide a framework for allocating funding. The tiers for the Community and Charitable events would be
based on an applicant's City Special Event Permit fee and an estimate of any other related City fees for the
type of event planned. For the Signature events, the grants provided would be based on an analysis of any
related City fees and the event budget, and the estimated economic benefits the City would derive from the
event. Attachment C contains the language proposed for the new sets of criteria.
Should the Council approve the proposed changes to the City's Special Event Support process, staff will
work quickly to implement them and use the revised process for allocating special event support for FY 16.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act
( "CEQA ") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable
indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in
Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it
has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
NOTICING:
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at
which the City Council considers the item).
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Attachment A - Grants by Fiscal Year
Attachment B - Grant Funding FY14 -15
Attachment C - Event Support Overview (Proposed)
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ATTACHMENT A
Special Event Grants by Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year
# Applicants
# Awarded
$ Requested
$ Awarded
FY 2014 -15
25
20
$469,873
$293,010
FY 2013 -14
16
12
$422,000
$248,934
FY 2012 -13
15
9
$489,400
$212,200
FY 2011 -12
21
14
$510,000
$214,480
Note: The Newport Beach Chamber is under a 3 -year agreement for $50,000 /year, no application is required.
23 -4
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ATTACHMENT C
o m
ee City of Newport Beach
ur Special Event Support Overview (Proposed)
o..
�C /FORN�P
The City of Newport Beach recognizes the social and economic benefits associated with special
events. Its Special Event Support Program provides financial support to two categories of
Newport Beach -based events:
• Community and Charitable - Serve or benefit locally -based organizations and causes
and /or provide recreational, cultural, social benefits to Newport Beach residents.
Newport Beach -based organizations and events that serve the Newport Beach
community specifically, receive priority in funding.
• Signature Events — Large -scale events, based in Newport Beach that promote Newport
Beach regionally, attract visitors and provide measurable, economic benefits to the City
of Newport Beach.
Types of Special Event Support
A. Community and Charitable — Grants will be available at set, not -to- exceed levels that
correlate to the amount of City fees the applicant is expected pay. Grants awarded are
not intended to cover all of event organizers' costs associated with City oversight. Grants
will be in the form of a credit toward City fees. City will no longer provide cash (check) to
grant awardees. If awardee incurs costs (fees) higher than the grant award, they will owe
the City the difference. If the awardee's costs are lower than was projected during the
grant award process, the City keeps the difference.
B. Signature Events — Grants will be available at set, not -to- exceed levels based upon an
evaluation of the event budget, the estimate of City fees, and the estimated economic
benefits to the City of having the event based in Newport Beach. The City's financial
support should represent no more than 25 percent of the overall event budget. The City
may enter multi -year agreements with grant awardees. All agreements, whether for one
year or multi years, will include right to audit language and include measurable
objectives and performance measures for evaluating the event's marketing and
economic impact.
II. Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to receive City of Newport Beach support, applicants must demonstrate that:
A. All of a community or charitable event takes place within Newport Beach. All or a
majority of a Signature event (51 percent of related activities) takes place within Newport
Beach.
Special Event Support Overview (Proposed) 11
23 -6
B. The event is scheduled to take place between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 and the
exact date(s), time(s) and location within Newport Beach have been determined.
C. The event is not financially dependent on receiving City of Newport Beach support.
D. The event is sponsored, hosted and organized by a Newport Beach or Orange County -
based non - profit organization`
E. The applicant has no outstanding debt due to the City of Newport Beach.
F. The event does not need to be free of charge, but should be accessible to the
community/ public.
*The City of Newport Beach will give preference to volunteer -based organizations.
Ineligibility
The City of Newport Beach will not provide financial support to:
• Events that benefit for - profit enterprises
• Events that serve a political purpose or are sponsored by political organizations
• Event organizers and organizations that have not fulfilled previous City sponsorship or
special event obligations or have an outstanding debt to the City of Newport Beach
• Individuals
• Invitation only events - those not open to the general public
III. Qualification Criteria
To qualify to be considered to receive City Special Event Support, all applications must comply
with following:
A. Are submitted online, on time and are 100 percent complete. Late, incomplete, or
applications that do not comply with the instructions will not be considered.
B. Must include a copy of the complete event budget.
C. Must demonstrate strong financial management over the event, including cost
effectiveness.
IV. Evaluation Criteria
A. Community & Charitable Events
Applications will be reviewed and evaluated based on the following criteria:
1. The event serves, involves, and / or promotes Newport Beach, its residents, schools,
and /or businesses.
2. The event directly or indirectly benefits the Newport Beach community by supporting
its schools, cause - related or non - profit organizations; offering educational, cultural or
arts experiences; or providing recreational or social activities.
3. Event benefits a Newport Beach or Orange County -based non - profit organization.
Special Event Support Overview (Proposed) 12
23 -7
B. Signature Events
Applications will be reviewed and evaluated based on the following criteria:
1. The event delivers substantive and measurable economic benefits to the City.*
2. The event organizers utilize strategic and measurable marketing practices in
planning and implementing the event.*
3. The event enhances the quality of life within Newport Beach with cultural, social or
education activities of interest to the community.
4. The event attracts visitors to Newport Beach.
5. The event promotes Newport Beach as a highly desirable place to live, visit, work
and recreate.
6. The event directly or indirectly benefits or promotes Newport Beach businesses.
*Successful applicants must enter into a grant agreement with the City that includes
mutually agreed upon key metrics / performance indicators. Event organizers will be
required to demonstrate how the event met or did not meet the agreed upon performance
measures in the required, post -event report.
V. Other Requirements:
• Signature event grant recipients will be required to enter into a City Sponsorship
Agreement and agree with the City's terms and conditions.
• Successful applicants receiving a Signature Event Grant of any level, must agree to
provide the event's financial statements and allow the City to conduct its own review of
them, if requested.
• Successful applicants — under both Community and Charitable and Signature Events -
will be expected to follow the City's Special Event Permit Process and submit all
necessary forms, insurance and fees as required. Applications that do not meet the
requirements and are not submitted within the specified deadlines risk forfeiting their City
Special Event support.
VI. Funding Levels
Event Support is categorized into the following three - tiered system:
A. Community Event Grants*
Tier 1 - $100 - $2,500
Tier 2 - $2,501- $7,500
Tier 3 - $7,501- $15,000
*Based upon City Special Event Permit Fee and estimated or average
related City fees.
Special Event Support Overview (Proposed) 13
tM.
B. Signature Event Grants`
Tier 1 - $15,000- $25,000
Tier 2 - $25,001 - $50,000
Tier 3 - $50,001 - $150,000
`Grants provided based on analysis of related City event fees and
economic benefits City will derive from the event.
Special Event Support Overview (Proposed) 14
23 -9