Fiscal Note

Department:	Contact Person/Phone:	DOF Analyst/Phone:
Seattle Center	Rachael Brownell, 684-7229 Ned Dunn, 684-7212 Helaine Honig, Law, 684-8222	Helen Welborn 233-7884

Legislation Title:

AN ORDINANCE relating to the Seattle Center Department; authorizing execution of an agreement with Festivals, Inc. for the presentation of annual Bite of Seattle festivals at Seattle Center.

Summary of the Legislation:

This legislation authorizes a three-year agreement between the City of Seattle and Festivals Inc. for the presentation of the 2003, 2004, and 2005 Bite of Seattle Festivals at Seattle Center.

The financial terms of this agreement remain consistent with previous agreements. The City receives a percentage of all food, beverage, and merchandise sales. Festivals Inc. pays a landscape fee and reimburses the City for all applicable costs, including labor, utilities, and fees.  

The Bite pays the City a fee of $26,530 in support of on-duty police at the event and hires off-duty police to carry out its approved security plan.

Appropriations (in $1,000’s):

Fund Name and Number	Department	Budget Control Level*	2003 Appropriation	2004 Anticipated Appropriation
N/A
TOTAL

* This is line of business for operating budgets, and program or project for capital improvements

Notes: This legislation does not authorize appropriations.

Expenditures (in $1,000’s): The 2003 expense listed below is included in the 2003 Adopted Budget, not in this legislation.

Fund Name and Number	Department	Budget Control Level*	2003 Expenditures	2004 Anticipated Expenditures
11410	Seattle Center	Cultural & Community Heart of the City	105	107
TOTAL			105	107

* This is line of business for operating budgets, and program or project for capital improvements

Notes:

Anticipated Revenue/Reimbursement (in $1,000’s): The 2003 revenue listed below is included in the 2003 Adopted Budget, not in this legislation.

Fund Name and Number	Department	Revenue Source	2003 Revenue	2004 Revenue
11410	Seattle Center	% of Food and Beverage Sales	114	116
		Landscape Fee	35	36
		Reimbursement for event labor and non-labor expenses	45	46
TOTAL			194	198

Notes: The Bite of Seattle pays the City a fee of $26,530 in support of on-duty police at the event. The Bite makes the payment to Seattle Center. Seattle Center then makes an Interfund transfer for this amount to the Police Department.

Total Permanent Positions Created Or Abrogated Through Legislation, Including FTE Impact; Estimated FTE Impact for Temporary Positions:

Fund Name and Number	Department	Position Title*	2003 FTE	2004 FTE
No additional positions needed
TOTAL

* List each position separately

Do positions sunset in the future? (If yes, identify sunset date):

N/A

Background (Include brief description which states the purpose and context of legislation and include record of previous legislation and funding history, if applicable):

The legislation authorizes the Seattle Center Director to enter into a 3-year agreement (2003, 2004, 2005) with Festivals, Inc. to organize and stage the annual “Bite of Seattle Festival” on the Seattle Center campus. The 2003 Bite of Seattle, scheduled for July 18-20, will be the 18^th annual Bite of Seattle held at Seattle Center. Each year the Bite of Seattle attracts one of the largest and most diverse audiences to Seattle Center to enjoy food from around the world. A substantially completed contract is attached to the legislation.

The Bite of Seattle is one of the “big four” major festivals annually held on the Seattle Center campus. The other three are the Seattle International Children’s Festival, Northwest Folklife Festival, and Bumbershoot. Each festival has its own unique relationship with the City. Bumbershoot is produced by OneReel and structured to cover Seattle Center’s marginal costs while the Children’s Festival and Folklife both receive direct City support. The Bite of Seattle is the only purely commercial event of the four major festivals held at the Seattle Center. Seattle Center anticipates netting $89,000 from the Bite if Seattle in 2003, not including parking revenue.

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):

Without legislation authorizing the agreement to produce the event, Seattle Center operating revenues would decline, unless the Bite of Seattle was replaced by another event or events that produced a similar level of revenue.

Possible alternatives to the legislation which could achieve the same or similar objectives (Include any potential alternatives to the proposed legislation, including using an existing facility to fulfill the uses envisioned by the proposed project, adding components to or subtracting components from the total proposed project, contracting with an outside organization to provide the services the proposed project would fill, or other alternatives):

As one of the four major festivals annually held at Seattle Center, the Bite of Seattle is recognized as a signature Seattle Center event. Alternatives to this legislation include finding another festival company to operate a large festival in place of the Bite.

Is the legislation subject to public hearing requirements (If yes, what public hearings have been held to date):

No

Other Issues (including long-term implications of the legislation):

This legislation allows the Seattle Center to continue offering a popular festival event, which annually attracts one of the largest and most diverse audiences to the Seattle Center campus.