Elgin looks to pare its special events backing

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Runners head down Douglas Avenue at the start of the 34th annual Elgin Fox Trot on May 30, 2011. Some changes may be in store for the Fox Trot at some point in the future along with other city-sponsored events. | File~Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 26, 2012 8:08AM

ELGIN — Mayor Dave Kaptain floated the idea last July of consolidating special events held by nonprofit groups that the city has been sponsoring.

Kaptain suggested bundling them with four weekends already tied to city-offered events: Memorial Day weekend, the Fourth of July, the summertime Art & Soul Passeggiata, and Labor Day weekend.

At Wednesday’s committee of the whole session, the city council will consider acting on a formalized version of Kaptain’s trial balloon.

The plan under consideration would have Elgin hosting events on the weekends Kaptain mentioned, plus a Halloween-related event. Held for the first time, last October’s “Nightmare On Chicago Street” zombie festival drew about 3,500 people downtown.

For Labor Day weekend, the city is thinking of hosting some sort of multicultural event celebrating the Elgin’s diversity.

Changes could be in store for the Memorial Day Fox Trot run, which is marking its 35th year and which draws about 2,000 people annually. Those modifications include raising the entrance fee to better recapture costs, letting nonprofits organize a walk tied to the run, and changing the route to accommodate veterans who have complained that the set-up hinders their access to Memorial Day services held at Veterans Memorial Park near the Gail Borden Public Library south of downtown.

Supporting material for tonight’s meeting states, “Because the city’s resources will go to the five festivals, the city will cease offering co-sponsorship support for non-city events. Organizations choosing to host an event separate from the five main festival weekends would be responsible for all costs associated with their event. These would include all city support staff costs. The rental costs of city facilities or equipment will no longer be waived or discounted.”

No subsidies

That means the city would no longer subsidize or offer breaks to events that include American Cancer Society Walk and Roll, Boriqua Fest, Brewfest, the Downtown Neighborhood Association’s Harvest Market, Flag Day, Fiesta Salsa, GLOfest, Juneteenth, and Thunder on the Fox.

The city also is planning to cut back the number of “Concerts in the Park” and “Movies in the Park,” and cut hours for the Elgin Express Train at Festival Park on South Grove Avenue. It will eliminate some smaller events including the Easter Egg Hunt and Lunch with Santa, which duplicate offerings for other local groups.

In 2008, the city had a special events budget of about $772,000. There was a staff of four full-time workers and one part-timer plus an intern who processed 66 outside-event applications in addition to overseeing the city’s own offerings. In 2011, the special events budget was about $460,000 and overseen by one full-time and two part-time employees who processed more than 117 outside applications.

For this year, the city has set aside about $395,000 for special events.

While community events are set to be cut, there has been no reduction of city-related public meetings in Elgin. What the council decides tonight will be the subject of an informational meeting to be set up sometime in late February for interested parties to learn more.

The plan also states, “Focus groups made up of community groups and not-for-profit organizations will be engaged in this process and offered the opportunity to share their feedback, concerns and suggestions. The goal is to have new special events ordinances ready to present for council consideration in the second half of 2012, to be adopted to take effect in 2013.”

The council is expected to move along suggestions tonight, putting them in place for a year and then reviewing them. City Manager Sean Stegall would have the authority to modify or amend the plan throughout 2012.