Centennial committee reviews budget, agrees to keep surplus as seed money for future events

The City of Port Richey Centennial Events Committee on a consensus decision agreed to keep remaining event funds as seed money for future event planning and asked staff to prepare a resolution to create a carryforward account. The committee reviewed the centennial event budget and donation handling after several event-related refunds and sales were tallied. Committee members said they plan to use the remaining balance to seed future events rather than routing the surplus back into general revenue. Committee members discussed exact spending and refunds. The committee reported a budgeted amount of $47,700 and total spending of $52,668.79, an overage of $4,892.27. Committee members said sales of event merchandise and on-site collections left a remaining balance in the event line; the chair noted the mayor requested sales revenues (coins, T-shirts, entry fees) not be included in the budgeting worksheet. The committee agreed by consensus to move the remaining event balance into a restricted carryforward line and asked staff to prepare a resolution at an upcoming meeting to formalize that carryforward account. The committee clarified that those carryforward amounts would be visible on request but not roll up into the annual operating budget. On donated proceeds, the committee reported that a third-party nonprofit (identified in discussion as McDonald School of Business handling donations) retained a 10% processing fee on credit-card donations; the committee said $1,303.58 remained available for distribution after fees in that batch and that checks to the five chosen charities had been prepared and mailed or hand-delivered but one check remained undelivered because the committee lacked a current telephone contact for one recipient. Committee members asked staff to attempt direct contact and to report back. Members also discussed refund requests that had already been processed for multiple sponsors and attendees and requested staff document refunds and associated processing fees in the final accounting. Committee members emphasized they want a formal mechanism for future events that would allow the city to receive and redistribute donations through an established process that avoids ad hoc selections. The committee discussed modeling the process on the local tax collector’s donation-handling mechanism and proposed drafting a request-for-interest or application so nonprofits can register for event donations in the future. Less-critical details: committee members noted separate line items for sponsor plaques, small outstanding vendor invoices (example: a $56.70 invoice that needs to be submitted), and upcoming obligations such as flag purchases and plaque costs.