Commissioner proposes nonprofit take over town events, funnel tourism revenue back to general fund

Commissioner Tufano proposed that a nonprofit be made permanently responsible for staging Matthews’ public events — from food‑truck Fridays to Matthews Live — and that tourism revenue be paid to that nonprofit, which would in turn pay for police, clean‑up, park rentals and other costs and return proceeds to the town’s general fund.

The plan, Tufano said, “would be to have a party event organization take over everything completely, remove the town from any and everything that has to do with events and then turn around and receive the money back into the general fund for rental.” He estimated the arrangement could return “somewhere in the neighborhood of a 100 to a $150,000 a year” to the town, while leaving invoicing for services (police, park rental, utilities) to the town.

Town legal counsel said the idea is novel and carries risk. “It is neither explicitly legal nor illegal,” Daniel told the board, adding that the town could face litigation from taxpayers or other parties; he cited a recent lawsuit against Carteret County over tourism fund expenditures and warned of “moral hazard” if the town sets fees that effectively shift tourism dollars into the general fund.

Staff and several commissioners pressed specific operational questions. Tufano described mechanics: the nonprofit would be invoiced for town police, fire, park rental and utilities when town staff or property were used. He pointed to the current Stumptown Park rental rate — “it's $1,500 for a 24 hour period” — and noted some festivals use town property for multiple days, including setup and strike, which can extend to “up to 10‑12 days” for larger events. That multiplies rental and staffing charges under the proposed model.

Finance and events staff presented preliminary accounting for three of the town’s largest events. Staff reported “gross total expenses of $337,000 for all of those,” with those events generating roughly $84,000 in direct event revenue and producing a roughly $253,000 net impact on the town’s tourism fund under the current model. Under a scenario in which the town cut a check to a nonprofit to operate those events, staff estimated about $259,000 would be contracted out from the tourism fund for those three events, with similar public‑safety and utility offsets.

Several commissioners voiced governance and timing concerns. One member said that a nonprofit receiving payments “has to file a full tax return” and that gifts over certain thresholds trigger audits; staff noted the town already uses an audit threshold for expenditures above $50,000. Commissioners also raised the practical constraints: Matthews Live is an existing nonprofit with executive director Leanne Moore, and staff suggested beginning conversations with that group if the board wants to pursue a pilot. Commissioner McCool asked whether Matthews Live could be asked to take over only its signature festival as a test rather than all town events.

Board members generally agreed the idea merited further study but not immediate adoption: several suggested the change is too close to finalizing the FY26 budget to enact this year and recommended testing the concept on a single event and bringing Matthews Live in for a formal presentation. Tufano said he would invite Matthews Live to present; staff confirmed a presentation was being arranged for the board to hear the nonprofit’s position.

Next steps: staff and commissioners agreed to follow up with Matthews Live and to continue the discussion after the budget is finalized rather than implement any immediate change.