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Rotary, city debate handling of July Jamboree charges; staff proposes invoice and budget fix
Summary
Rob O’Brien told council the Rotary Club wants the city to treat recent park and electrical charges as sponsorship value rather than standard fee waivers.
Cedar City council on Aug. 20 heard a public hearing from the Rotary Club seeking to reclassify recent park and electrical charges for the July Jamboree as in‑kind sponsorship value rather than direct fees.
Rob O’Brien, speaking for the Cedar City Rotary Club, said the club historically provided the city in‑kind services and that this year the club received invoices it did not expect. “We’re not asking you to waive the charges,” he told the council; instead Rotary asked the city to redirect charges presented to the club as sponsorship return value in an in‑kind trade.
Staff and council described a city policy of not routinely waiving facility fees. Ken Nelson, Leisure Services, and other department heads quantified in‑kind services the city provided — parks, street cleaning and traffic support — and noted some department labor is customarily donated while park reservation and stage fees have historically been charged. Eric Witsky (streets) and staff estimated unpaid city labor and services of several thousand dollars tied to the event.
Brandon Burke, city events staff, said he has an event recruitment budget and offered an immediate resolution: “I can write that check out of that for sure if that’s alright with everybody here,” he told the council. Council members asked Rotary to send an invoice for the sponsorship so accounting is clean and requested clarification on who would pay Bradshaw Electric for on‑site electrical labor; Bradshaw’s invoice currently lists the city as the billed party.
Council agreed to continue the discussion next week with a public hearing required to finalize an approach and to resolve the Bradshaw Electric invoice. Several councilmembers emphasized they will not broadly reintroduce a practice of waiving fees and recommended an explicit, transparent sponsorship process for future large events.
What’s next: Council asked Rotary to send an invoice for the $2,000 sponsorship value and directed staff to present a defensible budget or invoice path at the next meeting.
