Form revised December 4, 2006
FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS
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Department: |
Contact Person/Phone: |
DOF Analyst/Phone: |
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Seattle Center |
Ned Dunn, 684-7212 Tracy Robinson, 684-0769 |
Jan Oscherwitz, 684-8510 |
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Legislation Title: |
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AN ORDINANCE relating to the Seattle Center Department; authorizing execution of an agreement with Northwest Folklife for the presentation of the annual Northwest Folklife Festival at Seattle Center. |
· Summary of the Legislation:
This legislation authorizes a six-year agreement between the City of Seattle and Northwest Folklife, a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that produces the annual Northwest Folklife Festival at Seattle Center. The agreement covers the 2007 through 2012 festivals.
The Northwest Folklife Festival (“Folklife”) has been held at Seattle Center each year since 1972. Folklife celebrates music, dance, and traditional arts of ethnic and cultural communities and is one of the largest of its kind in North America. An estimated 150,000 people attend this popular festival each year that features thousands of performers over the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
In May 2001, the City Council passed Ordinance 120364 authorizing a one-year agreement with Northwest Folklife for the 2001 Northwest Folklife Festival, and directed Seattle Center and Northwest Folklife to come back to the Council with a multi-year agreement which would cap the City’s costs while providing Northwest Folklife with the stability it needed for long-term success. In October 2001, the City Council passed Ordinance 120590 authorizing a five-year agreement with Northwest Folklife for the 2002-2006 festivals. This agreement included a dollar cap on the level of City labor support for the festival, providing certainty that the level of City support would not exceed a maximum amount. The dollar cap was to be adjusted each year for increases in the City’s labor rates. To provide a financial incentive to hold down costs, the City and Northwest Folklife evenly split any labor savings below the dollar cap.
The new agreement with Northwest Folklife is for six years from 2007 to 2012. The dollar cap instituted in the previous agreement is continued in the new agreement. The cap has achieved its intended goal. It has held down City costs and provided both parties with incentives to be efficient in the use of labor. At the same time, Folklife has aggressively sought voluntary contributions from festival attendees in order to make ends meet, while still keeping the festival free to the public. The new agreement continues the traditional level of City support for the festival, which together with sponsorship, voluntary contributions, and performers giving their time without charge, enables Northwest Folklife to continue to present the festival at no charge to the public.
The dollar cap for City labor support in 2007 is $200,812. In addition, Seattle Center provides for garbage disposal and transfer of recyclable materials. The Center also provides the use of the grounds and facilities at no cost, including up to approximately 300 parking spaces during the festival for festival volunteers, performers, donors and staff.
City support for Folklife is partially offset by revenue from parking, monorail, and Center House merchants, as well as from the local spending and tax revenues from the thousands of visitors who come from outside the area each year to attend the festival.
Not part of the Folklife Festival agreement, but as a service to its neighbors, Seattle Center pays for laborers from the Millionair’s Club to provide clean-up extending beyond the campus into the surrounding neighborhood. This helps offset the impact of thousands of festival attendees who pass through these neighborhoods to and from the festival.
Among the few changes in this new agreement are:
· Seattle Center has the right to two booths at the festival.
· Northwest Folklife is required to use Seattle Center’s provider for phone and data needs.
· A section dealing with move-in and move-out that was a separate attachment in previous agreements is incorporated into the body of the new agreement.
· All exhibits are brought up to date.
· Please check one of the following:
____ This legislation does not have any financial implications. (Stop here and delete the remainder of this document prior to saving and printing.)
_X___ This legislation has financial implications. (Please complete all relevant sections that follow.)
Appropriations: This table should reflect appropriations that are a direct result of this legislation. In the event that the project/ programs associated with this ordinance have appropriations that were, or will be, received because of previous or future legislation or budget actions, please provide details in the Notes section below.
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Fund Name and Number |
Department |
Budget Control Level* |
2007 Appropriation |
2008 Anticipated Appropriation |
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TOTAL |
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*See budget book to obtain the appropriate Budget Control Level for your department.
Notes: Appropriation authority for support of the Northwest Folklife Festival is included in Seattle Center’s 2007 Adopted and 2008 Endorsed Budgets. The estimated net support for the 2007 Folklife Festival is:
$200,812 – Labor
$ 11,600 – Garbage/Recycling disposal and transfer fees
$ 3,000 – Neighborhood Clean-up
$215,412 – Total
Anticipated Revenue/Reimbursement: Resulting From This Legislation: This table should reflect revenues/reimbursements that are a direct result of this legislation. In the event that the issues/projects associated with this ordinance/resolution have revenues or reimbursements that were, or will be, received because of previous or future legislation or budget actions, please provide details in the Notes section below the table.
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Fund Name and Number |
Department |
Revenue Source |
2007 Revenue |
2008 Revenue |
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TOTAL |
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Notes: As noted above, City support for Folklife is partially offset from revenue from parking, monorail, and Center House merchants, as well as from the local spending and tax revenues from the thousands of visitors who come from outside the area each year to attend the festival.
Total Regular Positions Created Or Abrogated Through This Legislation, Including FTE Impact: This table should only reflect the actual number of positions created by this legislation. In the event that positions have been, or will be, created as a result of previous or future legislation or budget actions, please provide details in the Notes section below the table.
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Position Title and Department* |
Fund Name |
Fund Number |
Part-Time/ Full Time |
2007 Positions |
2007 FTE |
2008 Positions** |
2008 FTE** |
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TOTAL |
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* List each position separately
** 2008 positions and FTE are total 2008 position changes resulting from this legislation, not incremental changes. Therefore, under 2008, please be sure to include any continuing positions from 2007.
Notes:
· Do positions sunset in the future? (If yes, identify sunset date):
Spending/Cash Flow: This table should be completed only in those cases where part or all of the funds authorized by this legislation will be spent in a different year than when they were appropriated (e.g., as in the case of certain grants and capital projects). Details surrounding spending that will occur in future years should be provided in the Notes section below the table.
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Fund Name and Number |
Department |
Budget Control Level* |
2007 Expenditures |
2008 Anticipated Expenditures |
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TOTAL |
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* See budget book to obtain the appropriate Budget Control Level for your department.
Notes:
· What is the financial cost of not implementing the legislation? (Estimate the costs to the City of not implementing the legislation, including estimated costs to maintain or expand an existing facility or the cost avoidance due to replacement of an existing facility, potential conflicts with regulatory requirements, or other potential costs if the legislation is not implemented.)
The City provides approximately $215,000 in direct support of the Northwest Folklife Festival on behalf of the public. Although the City would save these costs if the City no longer supported the festival, the City would lose one of the most highly regarded and best attended folk arts festivals in North America, and would lose direct revenues from parking, monorail and Center House merchants, as well as the indirect revenues from thousands of visitors from outside the region.
· What are the possible alternatives to the legislation that could achieve the same or similar objectives? (Include any potential alternatives to the proposed legislation, such as reducing fee-supported activities, identifying outside funding sources for fee-supported activities, etc.)
· Is the legislation subject to public hearing requirements: (If yes, what public hearings have been held to date, and/or what plans are in place to hold a public hearing(s) in the future.)
No.
· Other Issues (including long-term implications of the legislation):
A diverse audience of over 150,000 people attends the Northwest Folklife Festival each Memorial Day weekend. Admission is free. Even more significant is the fact that the artists perform free of charge at this nationally recognized event. In this way, the City’s investment is leveraged for the benefit of the community.
Please list attachments to the fiscal note below: