Memorandum
Date: January 5, 2021
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: District 2 Supervisor, Bruno Sabatier
Subject: Consideration of Letter of Support for Lake County Fairgrounds
Executive Summary: (include fiscal and staffing impact narrative):
Lake County Fairgrounds is struggling during this pandemic. Its largest revenue streams are based on activities and events that occur annually on its 65-acre property. However, due to COVID-19, many, if not all, of these events have been cancelled or postponed until further notice. Two sources of funds have been held back due to re-interpretations or specific criteria.
AB 1499 was written to ensure that the state would provide 3/4 of 1% of the revenue from fairgrounds statewide. This was passed in October 2017. However, due to internal department changes in the state, Assemblymember Gray, who authored the bill, allowed it to take more time to be implemented. It is now being implemented and the numbers approved for the budget show a fiscal year representation versus a calendar year representation of the 1%. Fairgrounds work on a calendar year according to Gray and the state works on a fiscal year. This has almost dropped the available resources via AB1499 by half. Attached is a letter from Assemblymember Gray reacting to this change.
The governor's budget has set aside $40.3 million for fairgrounds. However, this money could only be accessed if all staff had been laid off. Many fairgrounds have had limited access to this pot of money for varying reasons, leaving approximately $21.9 million left. The governor has the chance to revise his budget in January and I would like to request that he change the criteria for access and the use of those funds so that our fairgrounds can be carried through this pandemic and continue to serve the people of Lake County, especially with its social venues and its dedication to highlighting our local agriculture.
Our fairgrounds are important to La...
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