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Parks committee defers final festival payment, seeks reconciled revenue and line‑item details
Summary
The Williamson County Parks and Recreation Committee on June 2 deferred action on a budget amendment to cover the county’s payment to Freeman’s, the festival operator, after staff reported preliminary gross sales near $2.6 million and said final reconciliation is still in progress.
On June 2, 2026 the Williamson County Parks and Recreation Committee voted to defer a motion to amend the FY2026 budget to cover the county’s payment to Freeman’s, the operator of the Castle Park festival, until staff can complete revenue reconciliation and provide final line-item numbers.
Rick, a parks staff member who presented the revenue figures, told the committee the festival ran 11 days this year and generated "almost $2.6 million in gross sales," and that ticket counts rose from about 90,000 last year to roughly 104,000 this year. Under the county’s 10-year contract with Freeman’s, staff said, Freeman’s receives 25% of ticket sales in years one through five and 10% in years six through 10; this is the fifth year of the contract, so the higher share applies.
Staff described the payment calculation as the reason for the proposed amendment. The initial resolution listed $375,000 in participant-fee revenue; staff said the budget committee amended that figure to $400,000 and that, after accounting for other line items already budgeted, the county currently expects to issue a combined payment in the range staff estimated at roughly $580,000 to Freeman’s once final reconciliations are complete.
Several members questioned whether to approve an amended number before reconciliation was complete. One member said the revenue figures in the packet were "preliminary as of May 20" and urged waiting for final statements. Another asked about payments or donations for emergency deputies and volunteer fire responders who staffed the festival; staff said prior years included some donations and offered to follow up.
After discussion, a motion to defer was made so staff could produce final reconciled totals and a written amendment showing the exact dollar amount to present at the commission meeting. The committee approved the motion to defer and directed staff to return with the finalized figures before the county commission considers the budget amendment.
Next steps: Staff will finish reconciling ticket sales, refunds and chargebacks and provide the county commission with a written amendment reflecting the final amount to be paid to Freeman’s. The committee scheduled no further votes on the item at this meeting.
