City Willing to Sponsor ‘Revenue Neutral’ Independence Day Fireworks

The Elk Grove City Council decided to support the annual Independence Day fireworks so long as they are “revenue neutral.” The decision was made at Wednesday night’s city council meeting.

The “Annual Salute to The Red, White, and Blue” fireworks display and accompanying Independence Day festivities had been sponsored by the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce. This year the chamber decided it was best to expend its resources on supporting local businesses and decided to discontinue its financial support.

In a move to ensure the events continuity, Elk Grove City Manager Laura Gill proposed the city, in conjunction with the Cosumnes Community Services District, fill the void created by the chamber. In her staff report Gill said up to $100,000 from the city’s general fund is available to cover the cost of the fireworks, the annual fun run and an unspecified tenth anniversary celebration event.

That report spurred a flurry of e-mails through the community questioning the wisdom of such a large allocation given economic conditions.

In her presentation to the council Gill said she wanted “reframe the issue” and clarify matters. Gill noted that $87,000 from the city’s contingency fund was available should the city council support the events.

“I am not recommending you spend $87,000, that is what you have available,” Gill said. “The worse thing we could have done is not discussed it at all.”

Gill went on to say that the event has been a community mainstay for 13 years and people have come to expect it. “If you choose to do nothing, that needs to be communicated,” she added.

During the public comment section many speakers noted the current economic conditions and said it might be unwise for such a large expenditure given the uncertainty.

Council urged to stop being Scrooges

Conversely, Elk Grove resident Tom Shine urged the city council to fund the event. “Let’s stop being Scrooges,” he said.

During their deliberations council member Jim Cooper said he was not supportive of the expenditures noting the furloughs of city employees. “I don’t feel right when we have asked so much of our employees,” Cooper said.

Council member Pat Hume reasoned that it was because of the difficult times that the city provide an event that families can attend for free. “This is important not to run around in the doldrums,” Hume said.

After further deliberation the council decided by a 4-1 vote to make an initial $25,000 allocation and that the city staff should seek sponsorships that would generate enough revenue to offset the city’s allocation.

Cooper was the sole dissenting vote.