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Daytona Beach staff propose tiered vendor fees as city says event runs a $75,000–$85,000 net deficit
Summary
City staff presented a proposed tiered fee schedule for Bike Week and Biketoberfest vendors and said city costs exceed event fee revenue by about $75,000–$85,000; commissioners asked staff for comparative fee data from neighboring Ormond Beach and Volusia County before deciding.
City staff told the Daytona Beach City Commission at a May workshop that the city spends more to stage Bike Week and Biketoberfest than it collects in vendor fees and proposed a tiered fee schedule to better reflect tent sizes and event length. City Manager Derek Feacher framed the session as feedback and not a final vote: “Tonight is not a full fledged vote night where we're voting on the master plan. This is to provide you the feedback that was ... received.”
The master-plan presentation by staff member Mr. Brown explained why staff compared Daytona Beach fees to other event-host cities. "So the reason why we were looking at the fees was that there was a discussion about, how do our fees relate to others," Brown said, and showed Leesburg, Panama City and Sturgis as comparators. Brown described a proposed tiered structure in which small booths (100 square feet or less) would keep the current price, while most tents (101–800 square feet, which staff said cover roughly 90–95 percent of vendors) would move to a higher bracket and the largest spaces could pay up to $800.
Why it matters: staff said the city currently runs a deficit covering public-safety overtime, sanitation and other event costs. "We're in the deficit ... somewhere in the neighborhood between $75,000 and $85,000 that we actually expend more than the fees that we bring in," Mr. Brown said. Commissioners pressed for detail before approving any fee changes: one asked staff to provide the county and Ormond Beach vendor-fee figures, a breakdown showing how many vendors pay the current East/West flat fees and a line-item accounting of city event costs and revenues. Feacher said staff would deliver the requested information "probably by next week."
Staff described the current fee structure as a flat $600 per vendor east of Ridgewood and $350 west of Ridgewood, plus a 12-cent-per-square-foot property-owner charge and a separate $300 property fee in some cases. The presentation noted those flat fees date to earlier commission direction and that vendors have, in practice, been treated differently over time when Business Tax Receipts (BTRs) were missing or late.
Commissioners asked how fees are used. Mr. Brown said fee revenue covers police and fire overtime, porta-potties and solid-waste services; the city’s general statement was that fees do not currently fully cover those costs. Commissioners also asked about private entities: staff said the Chamber of Commerce holds intellectual-property rights to the Bike Week/Biketoberfest names and logos and splits banner revenue per an agreement, while the Convention and Visitor Bureau (CVB) does not share revenue with the city under a similar contract.
No formal vote was taken. Staff will return with: (1) a city cost/revenue accounting for Bike Week/Biketoberfest (overtime, sanitation, equipment), (2) vendor counts and a breakdown of how many pay each current fee, and (3) comparative temporary-vendor fee schedules for Ormond Beach and Volusia County. Commissioners repeatedly said they wanted those materials before any decision on fees.
The commission did not set a date to vote on fee changes at the workshop; staff characterized the session as preparatory and said a final master-plan document with any recommended fee changes would be brought back for a formal decision later.
