Fee would raise event prices
Published 10:24 pm Wednesday, April 8, 2009
EVERETT — Snohomish County is ready to add a 5 percent admissions tax at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds and the Future of Flight.
A half-dozen people, who have an interest in the venues, urged the County Council on Wednesday to support the additional per-ticket charge. They included the county airports director, the executive director of the nonprofit group that runs the Future of Flight, and John Sessions, the owner of a vintage airplane collection kept at the airport.
“It’s a user fee,” said Don Doran, Mukilteo’s former mayor. “If you don’t want to attend or visit the Future of Flight or the fair, you don’t have to pay it.”
The County Council passed the new tax by a unanimous 4-0 vote. County Councilman John Koster is on vacation.
State law allows counties to impose an admissions tax of up to 5 percent of the price of a ticket. The idea to do this in Snohomish County originated with Councilmen Dave Somers, whose district includes the fairgrounds, and Brian Sullivan, whose district includes the Future of Flight.
The money could raise an estimated $400,000 per year for aviation exhibits at Future of Flight and new buildings at the fairgrounds.
If approved by the county executive, it would take effect on July 1. The new ordinance exempts school groups from being charged the tax at both venues.
Tickets for the 2009 Evergreen State Fair in Monroe are listed at $10 for adults and $6 for children. The tax would add 50 cents to an adult’s ticket and 30 cents to a child’s.
The 2008 fair drew 761,000 people.
“We’ve got one of the few successful fairs in the United States, so we’re very lucky, but we also have aging infrastructure,” Somers said after the vote. “A lot of the buildings out there are way beyond their normal life expectancies and there are some improvements that need to happen, and this is, I think, a critical piece of putting together a funding package for revitalization of the fairgrounds.”
The tax at the Future of Flight, a private-public nonprofit museum in Mukilteo, would be 75 cents for adults and 40 cents for youngsters; general admission tickets there cost $15 for adults and $8 for children.
Last year, the Future of Flight saw 170,528 visitors, most of them from outside the county.
“(We) need to spend some money for some exhibits so we can bring in more people to deal with the long-term debt service,” Sullivan said.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
