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Home My WebLink About22 - Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Special Event Support Funding RecommendationsCTY OF F NEWPORT BEACH City Council Staff Report July 14, 2015 Agenda Item No. 22 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: Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Special Event Support Funding Recommendations ABSTRACT: The City of Newport Beach Special Event Support Program gives financial assistance to Newport Beach based community events. After a review and evaluation of the grant applications, staff is recommending that the City support 14 Community & Charitable events for a total of $62,400 and five Signature events for a total of $235,000. RECOMMENDATION: a) Approve the Special Event Support recommendations for Fiscal Year 2015-2016 as detailed in Staff Report Attachment A; b) Authorize staff to execute grant agreements with each Signature Event organizer; c) Approve the transfer of $35,000 from 0110-8250 to 0340-8250; d) Approve waiving the Special Event Permit Fees and any City site rental fees for the Art in the Park event and the Bunnies & Books Kids Festival; e) Approve changes to the FY 2016-2017 Special Event Program as detailed in this staff report; and f) Approve one-time waiver of the eligibility requirements and a $15,000 Signature Event grant for the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival. FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: The adopted FY 2015-2016 General Fund budget includes $200,000 (0340-8250, City Manager's Office/Economic Development) in support for Signature Events and $100,000 (0110-8250, City Council) for the Community and Charitable event support. As proposed, the total recommended support for Community and Charitable events is $62,400, $37,600 less than budgeted. The recommended support for Signature Events is $235,000, $35,000 over the budgeted amount. If approved by the Council, $35,000 would be 22-1 transferred from account number 0110-8250 to 0340-8250. DISCUSSION: Background Since 2010, the City of Newport Beach (City) has followed an administrative process for allocating special event support. The process is designed 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. Following recommendations from a working group comprised of Council Members Petros and Peotter, in April 2015, the City Council approved changes to the process that better defined the types of events the City would support, set total funding levels in the adopted fiscal year General Fund budget, and established new eligibility, qualification, and evaluation criteria (Attachment B) for the program. Event organizers can now apply for a grant under one of two categories. 1. Community and Charitable Events — Events that serve or benefit locally based organizations and causes and/or provide recreational, cultural, or social benefits to Newport Beach residents. Newport Beach - based organizations and events that serve the Newport Beach community specifically, receive priority in funding. Grants will be in the form of a credit toward City fees. If an 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 will keep the difference. 2. 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. Signature event grant recipients will be required to enter into a City Sponsorship Agreement and agree with the City's terms and conditions. All agreements will include right to audit language and include measurable objectives and performance measures for evaluating the event's marketing and economic impact. Grant Application Process The City opened the application submission period on May 11 and advertised the program in the Daily Pilot, promoted it on the City's website and social media channels, emailed past applicants and others that had expressed an interest in the program, and issued a news release. The deadline for applications was Monday, June 8 at 4 p.m. Twenty-seven applications were received under the Community & Charitable event category and six were received under the Signature Event category. The applications are available for the City Council's and the public's review at the City Clerk's Office at Newport Beach City Hall. Application Review and Evaluation A staff committee comprised of Sean Levin and Raquel Valdez from Recreation and Senior Services and Tara Finnigan and Mary Locey from the City Manager's Office reviewed and evaluated each of the 33 applications received. The applications were evaluated based upon how well each fit the program's eligibility, qualification and evaluation criteria. As detailed in Attachment A, 10 applications were disqualified and one was withdrawn by the applicant. The Mariners Independence Day Parade and Celebration application was removed from consideration because the City is already a long-standing co-sponsor of the event. Two other applications were for events - Art in the Park and the Bunnies & Books for Kids Festival - sponsored by City support groups. Staff is recommending that the City Council approve waiving the associated City permit and/or site rental fees since the event proceeds come to the City for programs. In addition, the City was notified in late June that the Balboa Island Wine Walk organizer wished to remove her application from further consideration. It should be noted that the application for Speak Up Newport's Monthly meetings was disqualified because staff believes its mission is better suited for the Community Service Recognition grants program recently approved by the City Council as a change to Council Policy A-4. 22-2 The Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival is not run by a nonprofit or community organization, but by a somewhat recently created for-profit entity. The event's founder is a Newport Beach resident and staff believes the festival has the potential to one day be a regional visitor draw for the city. Therefore, staff is asking for a one-time exception to the eligibility requirements and recommending funding $15,000 in City support. (This amount is already included in the $235,000 total recommended for Signature event support.) Determining Recommended Funding Community and Charitable event grants are to be awarded at set, not -to -exceed levels that correlate to the amount of City fees the applicant is expected pay. To assign funding recommendations, staff used historical data from previous years' events or estimated what an event would pay in City fees. The committee incorporated the information from the application evaluation and assigned funding recommendations accordingly. Signature events grants are to be awarded at set, not -to -exceed levels based upon an evaluation of the event budget, an estimate of related City fees, and the estimated economic benefits to the City of having the event based in Newport Beach. Staff took these elements into consideration and assigned funding recommendations. Signature Event Grant Agreements Signature event grant recipients are required to enter into a grant agreement with the City that include mutually agreed upon performance measures for evaluating the event's marketing and economic impact. The event organizer will be required to submit a post -event report indicating how the event did or did not meet the agreed upon performance measures. Staff is proposing to work with Council Members Petros and Peotter, along with the event organizers, on the performance measures for each grant recipient. Recommended Changes to the Process for Next Year Staff has received favorable comments from some of the event organizers about the recent changes to the grant program. There are, however, some elements of the program that staff recommends amending for future years. 1. Currently, Community & Charitable event grants are based upon an estimate of the event's City Special Event Permit fees. Once the process was underway, staff discovered that a couple of organizations that would have applied under this category had to apply under the Signature Event category because their events do not require a City Special Event Permit. Moving forward, staff is recommending that the City has the ability to assign funding support to an event (one that does not require a Special Event Permit) at a level between $100 and $15,000 that takes into account the size and scope of the event and how well it otherwise meets the program's evaluation criteria. 2. The Signature Events category needs to be more thoroughly defined because some event organizers weren't sure which grant category best fit their event. The current definition reads, "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." Staff is proposing adding the following: . At a minimum, a Signature event must demonstrate that it does or can attract visitors from throughout Southern California (Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino) and ideally, the Southwestern United States. . It must have at least 3, 000 participants. . The event organizers have a strategic, measurable marketing plan and can immediately produce the plan and metrics from past years (if applicable) upon the City's request. . Event organizers must clearly demonstrate how the event will provide substantive and measurable economic benefits to the City of Newport Beach by supporting tourism, generating room nights, 22-3 supporting local business, and providing measurable marketing exposure. 3. A number of applications were incomplete and were disqualified from further consideration in this year's process because the applicant did not submit a complete event budget and/or the organizer factored in a City support level that would have made the event's viability dependent upon City support. (The program eligibility criteria state that an event must not be dependent on receiving City support.) Staff recommends more thoroughly defining the City's expectations, i.e., "Applications must include a complete copy of the event budget that clearly states the anticipated revenues and expenditures. Potential City support should not be listed as a revenue line item." Should the City Council agree with these recommendations, they will be incorporated into the Special Event Support Program beginning in 2016. 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 - Funding Recommendations Attachment B - Su000rt Overview 22-4 ATTACHMENT A Special Events Grant Funding Recommendations FY 2015-2016 FY 14-15 Est. Funding FY Event Organization Date of Event App'd Comments Recommended Support Levels Community & Charitable Event Applicants -same or benefit locally based organization and causes and/or provide recreational, cultural, social benefits to residents. 15.16 Support Est. City Fees Art in the Park Newport Beach Arts Foundation Oct. 10 2015 $510 City Support Group None Asian Pacific Cultural Foundation Asian Pacific Festival May 14-15 2016 Disqualified Incomplete budget $1,202 Balboa Island Art Walk Balboa Island Art walk May 15 2016 $2,000 Disqualified Incomplete budget $1,372 Balboa Island Parade Balboa Island Improvement Association June 6, 2016 $3,500 Tier $5000 $5,562 Balboa Island Wine Fest Balboa Island Marketing Inc. / NB&Co. 11/6/2016 & 3/4/2016 $1,000 Tier2 $2,500 $2,287 Balboa Island Wine Walk CMC Inc. 11/8/2015&5/22/2016 Withdrew Applicant withdrew on 6/29/2015 Balboa Village Concert in the Park BVMA-Balboa Village Merchants Association February 20, 2016 Disqualified Event dependent on City funding $5,000 Balboa Village Carnival BVMA-Balboa Village Merchants Association October 10, 2015 Disqualified Event dependent on City funding $3,000 Balboa Village Fest (N2E Kick Off BVMA-Balboa Village Merchants Association Aril 24 2016 $2,000 Tier 1 $2,500 $1,246 Balboa Village New Years Day Talent Caleb Menagerie Entertainment Januaryl,2016 Disqualified Individual /no evidence of supporting chari $444 Bunnies & Books for Kids Festival Newport Beach Public Librar, Foundation May 14 2016 City Support Group None CdM Christmas Walk Corona del Mar Chamber Dec.6, 2015 $3,500 Tier $3,500 $2,906 CdM Scenic 5K Corona del Mar Chamber June 4, 2016 $15,000 Tier 3 $ 15,000 $15,000 CROP Interfaith Hunger Walk CROP Interfaith Hunger Walk Oct. 18, 2015 Disqualified Incomplete budget $444 Field of Honor Exchange Club of Newport Harbor May 20-22, 2016 $1,000 Tier 1 $1,000 $922 Green on the Green Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce September 19, 2015 Tier 1 $2,500 $2,000 Harbor Heritage Run Newport Harbor High School PTA Oct. 17, 2015 Tier 3 $1 D,000 $9,554 Independence Day Parade & Celebration Manners Elementary School Foundation July 4, 2015 City Co-sponsored Event None Kiwanis Pacific Coast Triathlon/Duathlon Pelican Coast Events Inc. Se L 12-13, 2015 Disqualified Incomplete budget March for Babies March of Dimes A d124, 2016 Disqualified Incorrect budget submitted $15,659 Newport Classic Surf Contest Newport Harbor High School Surf Team April 23-24,2016 $1,000 Tier $1,000 $901 Neort EI Classic Car Show Newport ElementarySchool Foundation Oct. 10, 2015 $1,000 Tier 1 $1,000 $922 Neww ort Harbor Home & Garden Tour Newport Harbor Educational Foundation May 12, 2016 Tier 1 $450 $444 New ort -Mesa Spirit Run Newport -Mesa Spirit Run, Inc. March 13, 2016 $14,000 Tier 3 $14,000 $15,000 22-5 Special Events Grant Funding Recommendations FY 2015-2016 Signature Event A licants-Lar e -scale events, based in Newport Beach, that promote Balboa Island Centennial Celebration Balboa Island Marketing Inc l NB&Co. Newport Beach regionally, attract visitors, and provide Sept. 2015 -Jun. 2016 Disqualified measurable, economic benefits to the Ci Incomplete application Community Events __ $5,000 Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce Dec. 16-20, 2015 $50,000 Per a reement Under 3 -year agreement with Ci $ 50,000 None Newport Beach Film Festival Newport Beach Film Festival Apr. 21-28, 2016 $150,000 Tier 3 $ 150,000 $6,723 Newport Beach Restaurant Week NB Restaurant Association BID Jan. 18-31, 2016 $16,000 Tier 1 $ 10,000 None Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival NewBe Productions LLC Oct 2-4 2015 $15,000 Tier 1 $ 15,000 $19,804 Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race NOSA Apr. 22-24, 2016 $10,000 Tier 1 $ 10,000 None Signature Events Total $235,000 Funding Levels Legend Community Events __ Signature Events City co-sponsored event or City support group Tier 1 = $100 to $2,500 Tier 1 = $15,000 to $25,000 Disqualified Tier 2 = $2,501 to $7,500 Tier 2 = $25,001 to $50,000 Applicant withdrew Tier 3 = $7,501 to $15,000 Tier 3 = $50,001 to $150,000 Estimated event fees for new event 22-6 ATTACHMENT B �evEW�R�. ° ae City of Newport Beach us Special Event Support Program Call for Applications for Events Executed Between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016. Overview The City of Newport Beach (City) 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. Tunes 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. Successful applicants will be awarded grants in the form of credits toward their City fees. (The City will no longer provide cash to grant awardees.) Grants awarded are not intended to cover all of an event organizers' costs associated with City oversight. If an 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 will keep 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. FY 16 Special Event Support Program Overview Page 1 22-7 II. Eligibility Criteria To be eligible to receive City support, applicants must demonstrate that: A. All of the Community and Charitable event takes place within Newport Beach. All or a majority of the Signature event (51 percent of related activities) takes place within Newport Beach. 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* or a Newport Beach community or neighborhood 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 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 the following: A. Are submitted online, on time and are 100 percent complete. Late, incomplete, or applications that do not fully 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. FY 16 Special Event Support Program Overview Page 2 22-8 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. The event benefits a Newport Beach or Orange County -based non-profit organization or Newport Beach community or neighborhood organization. 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 educational 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 an agreement with the City that will include mutually agreed upon performance measures for the event. Event organizers will be required to submit a post -event report indicating how the event met or did not meet the agreed upon performance measures. V. Other Requirements: Successful applicants — under both Community and Charitable and Signature events - will be expected to follow the City's separate, 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. FY 16 Special Event Support Program Overview Page 3 22-9 Signature Event Recipients Only: o Signature event grant recipients will be required to enter into an agreement with the City and consent to the City's terms and conditions. (Applicants can view an example of a grant agreement at www.newportbeachca.gov/specialevents.) o The agreement will include mutually agreed upon performance measures for the event. Event organizers will be required to demonstrate how the event met, or did not meet, the agreed upon performance measures in a required, post -event report. o Signature event grant recipients must agree to provide the event's financial statements and allow the City to conduct its own review of them, if requested. 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. 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. The purpose of the grants is to provide funding support for qualified events and to assist with the City fees associated with executing an event in Newport Beach. The purpose is not to fund the entirety of an event and grant awards may not cover all of an event's associated City fees. FY 16 Special Event Support Program Overview Page 4 22-10 VII. Applying for a Grant A. Applications are available online at www.newportbeachca.gov/specialeventgrants B. This call for applications is for special events that will be held in Newport Beach between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016. C. The deadline for applications is Monday, June 8, 2015 at 4 p.m. VIII. Additional Information The City typically receives more applications and / or requests for event sponsorship amounts in excess of what it can provide. There is no guarantee that the City will be able to provide all, part, or any of the financial support requested by each applicant. Thus, applicants should not make commitments on the expectation of receiving City support. Recurring events do not automatically receive funding. All applications received by the deadline will be evaluated, ranked and funding recommendations made based upon the ranking of the application and the amount of funding available for supporting Community and Signature events in the City's FY 16 budget. The recommendations are made based upon how well the application submitted this award cycle meets the established criteria (in competition with other applications). The City Council can approve, amend, or deny any recommendation. FY 16 Special Event Support Program Overview Page 5 22-11