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County applies unpaid fair rental fees to Exhibit Hall rehab and agrees to 60/40 cost‑share for fair public‑safety costs
Summary
Facing a steep year‑over‑year rise in public‑safety charges, the commission agreed to apply unpaid 2025 fair rental fees plus the 2026 rental fee to an Exhibit Hall 1 rehabilitation fund and voted to cost‑share fair public‑safety expenses on a 60% county / 40% fair association basis (phased). Fire and sheriff officials said the fair functions like a small city and requires additional standby resources.
The Clay County Board on Feb. 24 approved using unpaid 2025 rental fees together with the 2026 rental fee to seed a county account for Exhibit Hall 1 renovations at the fairgrounds and voted to cost‑share increases in public‑safety staffing and equipment for the county fair on a 60% (county) / 40% (Fair Association) split.
Tasha Haidider, executive director of the Clay County Fair Association, opened public comment saying the fair was facing a “surprise” 200% increase in the quoted cost for public‑safety services compared with the prior year and that the Association’s budget and ticket prices are constrained. She asked the commission to consider relief to keep the fair affordable.
Fire Chief Lauren Mock described the fair as effectively a small city on an 80‑acre site with high daily attendance and limited access — a configuration that requires additional standby medical and fire resources and the incident management structure the county now applies to large events. Chief Mock and staff explained the county’s special‑events fee schedule (adopted in September) now includes equipment rental and an incident management team for large events; those line items increased the estimated cost compared with the prior invoicing method.
“Last year our agency deputies conducted almost 40,000 traffic stops,” the Sheriff told the board in an earlier related discussion of county traffic enforcement; Fire Chief Mock emphasized that large competitive‑sport and festival events require staffing that does not simply come from on‑duty rotation without impairing county coverage.
To support near‑term facilities needs, the board voted to allocate the outstanding unpaid rental funds from 2025 along with the 2026 rental fee to an Exhibit Hall 1 improvement fund; staff said initial cost estimates to add insulation and HVAC are in the mid‑to‑high hundreds of thousands of dollars and that improving Exhibit Hall 1 would increase rental income potential.
On the public‑safety cost question, commissioners discussed alternatives (full county subsidy, pass‑through to event organizer, or a phased cost‑share) and approved a phased cost‑sharing approach: county 60% / fair 40% for the immediate invoice, with the split and phasing to be coordinated with fair leadership for future years. The motion passed 3–1. Commissioners asked staff to meet with fair officials to create a predictable timetable for fee estimates and to give the fair earlier notice in future years.
