Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Events Fees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tulsa staff proposes three-step increase in special-events staffing fee to reach inflation-adjusted rate
Summary
City staff and councilors discussed a proposal to raise the special-events staffing fee from $50 an hour (set in 2007) in three $9-a-year steps to reach roughly $77 an hour, plus an annual finance review to keep rates current. Councilors asked staff to explore tiering, rebates tied to economic impact and other mitigations before a second reading.
City staff on Tuesday presented a proposed amendment to Tulsa’s traffic code (Title 37) that would increase the police and fire staffing rate charged for special events in three annual steps, beginning about six months after passage, rather than a single large jump.
The current special-events fee — “what we charge for special event organizers to have a variety of personnel on the ground for a special event,” according to Deputy City Administrator James Wagner — was set at $50 per hour in 2007. Staff said adjusting that figure for inflation from 2007 to today would put the recovery rate near $77 per hour.
Wagner said the working group, which included Councilors Bridal and Gilbert, proposed a three-step plan of roughly $9-per-hour increases each year to reach the $77 target and reduce the risk of a large immediate spike. Marissa, a staff member who worked with the special-events working group, described process changes intended to give organizers clearer cost estimates and reduce last-minute council permits, including a new cost-estimate form from Tulsa Police Department Lieutenant Hohner and integrated workflows between permitting staff and TPD.
Councilors raised alternatives. Councilor Hall Harper questioned whether the city should adopt a tiered fee structure so smaller nonprofit producers would not be disproportionately affected; staff replied that organizers could convert to nonprofit status to avoid higher fees, a possibility that could create perverse incentives. Councilor Lakin (speaking as a member of the working group) urged that the modest staged increase proceed while the working group studies options like a tiered structure, budget-based exemptions, or an assistance fund.
Several councilors suggested tying partial fee rebates to measurable economic benefits, such as sales tax or hotel-night generation recorded by Visit Tulsa. One councilor cited the PGA’s reported $157 million in economic activity as an example of events that produce large tax benefits and suggested a rebate mechanism if the city can reliably track resulting sales-tax receipts.
Staff said the ordinance language would still require any future rate changes to come back to council for ordinance amendment. They also proposed that after the three-year phase-in the finance director conduct an annual staffing-cost analysis to recommend further adjustments to maintain cost recovery.
No vote was taken Tuesday. The council agreed to solicit public comment, requested additional data (including event-level economic-impact reporting from Visit Tulsa), and scheduled the item for continued discussion and second reading at the next meeting cycle.
