Naperville officials hope changes to the grant process for special events and cultural amenities will free up money for more events.
Council members Monday backed many of the changes proposed by the Advisory Cultural Commission, which oversees $1.9 million spent on local festivals, amenities and cultural programs through the Special Events Cultural Awards program.
The advisory group, which was renamed the SECA commission as part of the changes, said the adjustments should recalibrate the grant amounts they approve and make more money available for either existing events or new ones.
“Every dollar we free up helps better fund the requests,” commission chairman Rich Grimes said.
Naperville’s SECA fund is fueled by a food and beverage tax. The fund, capped at $1.9 million, was established in 2004 to support cultural and artistic events for Naperville residents and visitors. The SECA commission reviews grant requests and makes recommendations to the council on funding awards. Naperville’s Rib Fest and Last Fling are two of the main events benefiting from the fund.
The food and beverage tax also provides funding, outside of the SECA fund, for social service grants and to pay off existing debt.
Among the changes approved Monday is a move to designate about $1.1 million of the $1.9 million for “city obligations,” covering such as Riverwalk maintenance, the municipal band and Fourth of July fireworks, all of which are approved by the council without a commission recommendation. Categorizing the $1.1 million as “city obligations” would help eliminate some of the confusion over how much is available for grants, SECA commission members said.
“It looks like we have $1.9 million to review and allocate and that’s not the case,” Grimes said.
The council also approved creating a “Legacy Event” designation for RibFest, which is held in July, and Last Fling, scheduled annually for Labor Day weekend. The two events combined take up about $330,000 of the remaining $800,000 SECA grant money.
Council members also approved using $120,000 in the commission’s reserve fund to pay off debt related to renovations at Sportsman’s Park. The move will help free up additional funds that can be used to increase funding for existing events or be awarded to new events.
The commission also plans to implement a new metrics system to determine an event’s success before future funding is awarded. Event organizers would also be asked to provide such information as anticipated attendance vs. actual attendance and what efforts are in place to allow the event to eventually become self-sufficient.
Other action related to SECA funds Monday included:
Approval of a request to split the salary and benefits, totaling more than $50,000, for an employee designated to collect and oversee the food and beverage tax. Currently, the entire amount is funded through SECA funds. Council members agreed to pro-rate the salary and benefits among the various funds of the food and beverage tax.
Rejection of a request to lower the cost charged for city services provided at the events, such as police patrol. Festival organizers are charged not only for personnel time, but also charged a fee to cover other costs such as a portion of the employee’s health insurance. Council members said those amounts should be included to better reflect the “true costs” of the employees requested to provide city services at special events.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
