Festivals and awards shows hit by city's fiscal woes

Facing an ever-widening budget gap, the Los Angeles City Council agreed to limit the amount of city money spent to subsidize city fees for festivals, arts events and award shows such as the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards.

The city spends about $5 million annually waiving fees for nonprofit groups that hold special events, and council members have discretion to issue those waivers in their districts. Under the new policy, nonprofit organizations would pay 50% of the fees and salary costs associated with their events, saving the city $2.5 million a year -- a policy that would make just a small dent in the $430-million shortfall projected for next year.

Danielle Brazell, executive director of Arts for L.A. told the council Tuesday that events such as the Lotus Festival might be at risk without fee waivers. “By imposing a 50% fee waiver, it actually could become cost-prohibitive for these organizations to actually be able to produce these festivals, and therefore have an adverse effect on the local economy,” she said.

Block parties would not be subject to any fees, and the council is postponing a decision on whether to include farmers markets while it gathers more information about the economic benefits of the markets to the city.

During the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 fiscal years, the city waived about $750,000 in fees for award shows and about $1.2 million for farmers markets.

With the policy change approved Tuesday, about $1 million would be available for waivers for citywide events and $100,000 for events in each of the 15 council districts.

The council will take a final vote on the measure next year after city officials draft an ordinance outlining the policy.

--Maeve Reston