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01-19-1999 - Invitation to Participate in 2000 Tournament of Roses ParadeV • City of West Covina Memorandum AGENDA ITEM NO. F-2 DATE January 19, 1999 TO: City Council and City Manager ®PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER FROM: Patricia Bommarito, Acting Community Services Director SUBJECT: INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN 2000 TOURNAMENT OF' ROSES PARADE Summary: The. Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association has extended the City of West Covina an invitation to participate in the 2000 Rose Parade. A reply is requested by no later than January 31't. If the invitation is accepted, a $2,500 entry must accompany the reply. BACKGROUND In July 1998, the City of West Covina accepted an invitation to participate in the 1999 Tournament of Roses Parade. Council approved the appropriation of $117,500 from the Business Improvement Tax (BIT) Fund, monies earmarked to support programs designed to promote and encourage business in the City, as well as fund marketing programs for the City. The appropriation was made to pay for the construction of the float ($100,000), entry fee ($2,500), VIP Rose Bowl Game and Rose Parade Tickets ($3,840), with the remainder ($11,160) to cover Volunteer Recognition, promotion, and, most importantly, fundraising seed money. The appropriation was also made with the condition that an effort be made to raise funds to offset the costs of the event to the BIT Fund. Being new to the event, however, there were unforeseen costs. This, coupled with the need for fundraising seed money caused the cost of the event to run higher than initially anticipated. As a result, the Fee and Charge account of the Community Services Department has had to absorb approximately $25,000 and there is currently a request for an additional appropriation of $25,000. Upon the City of West Covina's acceptance of the Tournament of Roses' invitation, the volunteer members of the Rose Float Executive Committee and Subcommittees began working immediately to recruit volunteers and raise funds. The Fundraising Subcommittee secured a number of major corporate sponsors, yielding $30,000. Fundraisers were held, including the Meet the New City Manager event and Bovine Bingo. The major and more lucrative events included the.Golf Tournament at South Hills, which raised $ 10,000 after costs and the fundraiser conducted by the Covina AMC 30, which raised $5,000. Auctioning float rider spots was another important source of revenue, yielding approximately $7,000, with another $2,500 forthcoming. In five short months, with events and the sales of merchandise, tickets, and the like, the Rose Float Committee has recorded deposits in excess of $94,000 as of 1/7/99. With recent, unposted deposits and forthcoming commitments, Staff 'expects revenue in excess of $100,000. All revenues will be used to replenish the BIT fund. Further, there were many in -kind contributions from businesses in the community. These contributions played a vital role in seeing the event to completion. The Committee was able to procure approximately $70,000 in, among other things, photographic services, transportation, newspaper space, food and coffee service, as well as printing and copying services. In terms of community successes, West Covina's participation in the Rose Parade was unparalleled. The benefits to the community were tremendous and numerous. The event brought the community together and gave residents a major, unique, and positive event on which to focus. The fact that West Covina was to have a Rose Float raised community enthusiasm, instilled a great deal of civic pride, and also helped to build a heretofore unmatched volunteer base. Further, it infused West Covina with a positive energy. This was evident in the way it helped transform the image of the City of West Covina in the local newspapers and the San Gabriel Valley. With the float came positive Z:\KMcDonald\Rose Parade\Agenda Report 1-19 - Invitation for 2000.doc front-page coverage in local newspapers and an improved image for the City of West Covina. Such an image is an obvious boon to the businesses, property owners, and the community, as a whole. The Rose Float helped build and strengthen relationships, not only on an individual - individual level, but on an organization -organization level, as well. Because of this event, the City strengthened its relationships with the Chamber of Commerce, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Westfield, and a host of businesses in the city. Promotion of the City of West Covina and, therefore, its businesses and community, was another one of the major benefits of having been in the Rose Parade. This promotion was significant, not only in the San Gabriel Valley, but throughout the world. The Rose Parade is one of the most widely .watched events in the world, with approximately 500 million viewers annually. Consider that commercials during the 1998 Super Bowl cost $1.2 million per 30 seconds. This puts into perspective the promotional power and avenues that the City of West Covina enjoyed during the Rose Parade, having received between 1 and 2 minutes of coverage on a number of television networks. This coverage, of course, is complemented by news coverage, via television, newsprint, radio, and internet, prior to and following the parade. West.Covina's float received a great deal of exposure in all of these mediums. The event was not without its challenges. Staff assumed much of the responsibility. for the administrative details and logistical issues of the event. As a result, many in the Community Services Department were consumed with Rose Float related activities and concerns. Nevertheless, those Staff members closest to and most impacted by the event enthusiastically support accepting the invitation to return. This is because it is believed that the benefits enjoyed by the community and businesses of West Covina as a result of having a float in the Rose Parade far outweighed the costs. It is also held that the challenges faced, both financial and organizational, could be addressed appropriately having been through the process once, as well as having a full year to plan. DISCUSSION The City of West Covina's application to participate in the 1999 Rose Parade was accepted with a self-imposed one -time -only entry. However, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association has extended an invitation to participate in the parade for the year 2000. A response is requested by no later than January 31, 1999. If the response is to accept the invitation, a $2,500 entry fee must accompany the response. FISCAL IMPACT In regard to immediate costs, if the invitation is accepted, the $2,500 entry fee must be paid by January 31, 1999. In terms of future costs, the design and construction of the float is, certainly, the greatest. In this regard, with the coming parade being the first of the new millenium, the incoming President of the Tournament of Roses has asked builders to produce bigger, more extravagant, more visually stimulating and animated floats. This, of course, translates into increased costs for floats. The 1999 float, which was a standard sized float with minimal animation cost $100,000. Preliminary estimates indicate that float costs will be between $100,000 and $125,,000, depending upon the design. Administrative costs are expected to be approximately $40,000. More accurate figures and funding sources will be identified at a later time and presented to Council if Council accepts the invitation to participate. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that Council approve the acceptance of the invitation to participate in the 2000 Tournament of Roses Parade and appropriate $ 2,500 from either (1) the Business Improvement Tax Fund, (2) General Fund Reserves for the entry fee. J Patricia Bommarito, Acting Community Se s irector Z:\KMcDonald\Rose Parade\Agenda Report 1-19 - Invitation for 2000.doc (D The Chamber of Commerce of West Covina 811 South Sunset Ave West Covina, CA 91790 January 19,1999 West Covina City Council City of West Covina P.O. Box 1440 West Covina, Ca. 91793 Dear Council Members: • a TEL (626) 338-8496 FAX (626) 960-0511 E-Mail wcovinagsouthwest:net Internet address http://www. wcovina.org The Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of West Covina has established an exploratory committee to discuss the issue of the year 2000 Rose Float. In reviewing this issue: • We find that participation in the Rose Parade is a worthwhile effort for our community, including the business community as a whole. • Use of the funds does fit within the parameters of use for the Business Improvement Tax (BIT). • There are sufficient funds in the excess BIT account to support the costs not covered through projected fundraising efforts. • We are in support of the City of West Covina submitting the $2,500 application fee to participate in the 2000 Rose Parade. • We need to continue the process of reviewing the practicality of a West Covina 2000 Rose Float. • We recommend that an organization independent of the City of West Covina be formed to carry out the logistics and planning of the 2000 Rose Float. The Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of West Covina looks forward to working with you on the year 2000 Rose Float project. Sincerely yours, H. Lee Laue, D.C. President HLL/ rdh WEST COVINA YOUR BUSINESS Proudly Serving West Covina for Over 50 Years 1947-1997