April 30, 2024
City Manager's Office
DATE: April 30, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Shasa Curl, City Manager
LaShonda White, Deputy City Manager
Subject:
Budget Increase to City-Sponsored Festivals (Cinco de
Mayo, Richmond Rainbow Pride, and Juneteenth)
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is a request to increase the budget for the following remaining City-sponsored festivals for Fiscal Year (FY) 23-24 for a total amount not to exceed
$24,000:
Cinco de Mayo Parade and Cinco de Mayo
Festival – Total increase of $10,000 for a total
budget of $15,000
o Parade – Initial budget of $2,500 will be
increased by $5,000 for a total budget of $7,500
o Festival – Initial budget of $2,500 will be
increased by $5,000 for a total budget of $7,500
Richmond Rainbow Pride – Total increase of
$4,000 for a total budget of $5,000 (initial budget
of $1,000)
Juneteenth Parade and Festival – Total increase
of $10,000 for a total budget of $15,000 (initial
budget of $5,000)
There is no request to increase the General Fund
appropriation to support the total increase of $24,000 for the festivals. There are sufficient funds in the non-
departmental budget to fully cover the costs of this
request (specific line titled “Special Events, Fee Subsidy” – 01917090 400322).
AGENDA
REPORT
April 30, 2024
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
June 20, 2023
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
To support the continued success of the Cinco de Mayo
Parade and Festival, Richmond Rainbow Pride Festival,
and Juneteenth Festival and Parade (the remaining
festivals in FY 2023-24), City staff is recommending
budget increases for each these City-sponsored events.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE a budget increase for the remaining City-
sponsored festivals for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 in a total amount not to exceed $24,000 (Cinco de Mayo Parade
budget increase of $5,000 for a total budget of $7,500, Cinco de Mayo Festival budget increase of $5,000 for a
total budget of $7,500, Richmond Rainbow Pride budget
increase of $4,000 for a total budget of $5,000, and
Juneteenth Parade and Festival budget increase of
$10,000 for a total budget of $15,000) – City Manager’s Office (Shasa Curl/LaShonda White 510-620-6828).
DISCUSSION:
As part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024 budget, City Council approved allocations ranging between $1,000 to $10,000 to support various events that benefit the Richmond community and celebrate the diversity of Richmond. Table 1 below lists the thirteen (13) festivals/events included in the FY 23-24 budget and includes the month the event occurs, and the current budget allocation. The first nine (9) festivals listed below have already taken place or were not held in FY 23-24. The four (4) remaining festivals, – Cinco de Mayo Parade, Cinco de Mayo Festival, Rainbow Richmond Pride Event, and Juneteenth Parade and Festival, are scheduled for May and/or June 2024.
April 30, 2024
Table 1
In addition to the funds provided by the City, the City also supports the events through the following efforts (non-exhaustive list):
The City does not charge Special Event Permit application fees or other related fees within the City’s purview
City staff supports the set-up and clean-up of events (i.e. providing barricades to close-off streets, street sweeping, park clean-up, etc.) City satffs events usually through overtime (i.e. Richmond Police Department providing traffic control and security, Richmond Fire Department personnel on-site for emergency-related support, Public Works staff supporting the clean-up before, during and after events, etc.).
City staff supports marketing and outreach
The majority of the events are organized by community-based groups and/or non-profit organizations. City staff acknowledges and appreciates that these events take a lot of time and resources to plan and implement, and the organizers are responsible for developing budgets and fundraising to cover the cost of event-related activities. Event funds are spent on everything from marketing and insurance to talent booking and permits.
There are four City-sponsored events remaining for the rest of the fiscal year – Cinco de Mayo Parade, Cinco de Mayo Festival, Richmond Rainbow Pride, and Juneteenth. City staff is recommending a total increase of $24,000 for the three remaining festivals in FY 2023-24. Table 2 below highlights the four events and includes the recommended increase for those events that will take place in the remainder of the FY (May and June 2024).
F iscal Y ear 2023-24
Name of E vent Month of E vent Current
B udg et
1 P oint R ichmond Music F estival J une - S eptember $ 5,000 2 North R ichmond B lues F estival J uly $ 5,000 3 Homefront F estival A ugust $ 5,000 4 North R ichmond S horeline F estivalOctober $ 5,000 5 Native A merican P ow W ow November $ 5,000 6 ML K Day of S ervice J anuary $ 5,000 7 Nowruz F estival March $ 5,000 8 L iteracy F air A pril $ 5,000 9 Oakland S ymphony Unknown $ 10,000 10 C inco de Mayo F estival May $ 2,500 11 C inco de Mayo P arade J une $ 2,500 12 P ride F estival J une $ 1,000 13 J uneteenth F estival J une $ 5,000 T OT A L $ 61,000
April 30, 2024
Table 2
The rationale for the increases is listed below:
Cinco de Mayo Parade and Festival and Juneteenth Parade and Festival Cinco de Mayo parade and festival, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, 2024, and Sunday, May 5, 2024, and Juneteenth Parade and Festival, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2024, both have a long-standing history in Richmond and attract hundreds of Richmond residents and people from other communities. City staff often attend the planning meetings for both events and therefore have a sense of the budget and financial needs and gaps for both festivals.
As part of the FY 23-24 budget, the City Council allocated $5,000 for Cinco de Mayo (the amount is split evenly between the parade and festival), and Juneteenth . These events generate the largest community turnout and have larger budgets due to the scale of the events. The groups set their own budgets for both events, and the City’s allocation of $5,000 supports less than 25 percent of each event’s total budget. Considering the size of both events, City staff is recommending an additional allocation of $10,000 for each event to support the implementation, logistics, outreach, entertainment, etc. For Cinco de Mayo, due to the fact two separate organizations manage the parade and festival respectively, City staff’s recommendation is to provide an additional $5,000 to support the parade on Saturday, May 4, 2024, and $5,000 to support the festival on Sunday, March 5, 2024. This would increase the funding by $5,000 from $2,500 to $7,500 for the parade, and would increase the funding by $5,000 from $2,500 to $7,500 for the festivals.
Name of E vent Month of E vent Current
B udg et
Recommended
Increase
New P roposed
T otal
1 P oint R ichmond Music F estival J une - S eptember $ 5,000 $ - $ 5,000 2 North R ichmond B lues F estival J uly $ 5,000 $ - $ 5,000 3 Homefront F estival A ugust $ 5,000 $ - $ 5,000 4 North R ichmond S horeline F estivalOctober $ 5,000 $ - $ 5,000 5 Native A merican P ow W ow November $ 5,000 $ - $ 5,000 6 ML K Day of S ervice J anuary $ 5,000 $ - $ 5,000 7 Nowruz F estival March $ 5,000 $ - $ 5,000 8 L iteracy F air A pril $ 5,000 $ - $ 5,000 9 Oakland S ymphony Unknown $ 10,000 $ - $ 10,000 10 C inco de Mayo F estival May $ 2,500 $ 5,000 $ 7,500 11 C inco de Mayo P arade J une $ 2,500 $ 5,000 $ 7,500 12 P ride F estival J une $ 1,000 $ 4,000 $ 5,000 13 J uneteenth F estival J une $ 5,000 $ 10,000 $ 15,000 T OT A L $ 61,000 $ 24,000 $ 85,000 F iscal Y ear 2023-24
April 30, 2024
For Juneteenth, one organization manages the entire event which includes both the parade and festival ; therefore, City staff’s recommendat ion is to provide an additional $10,000 to support the event, which will increase the funding by $10,000 from $5,000 to $15,000.
Richmond Rainbow Pride Festival
Richmond Rainbow Pride festival is one of the newer festivals within the City of Richmond and is scheduled for June 2, 2024. As part of the FY 23-24 budget, the City allocated $1,000 to support this festival, which is the smallest allocation provided to any festival. To support the continued growth of this event and to align the City’s allocation with other festivals, City staff is recommending an increase of $4,000 which will increase the funding from $1,000 to $5,000.
Recommendation and Next Steps
For the reasons listed above, City staff is recommending increasing the amount allocated to Cinco de Mayo, Richmond Rainbow Pride, and Juneteenth in a total not to exceed amount of $24,000.
The recommendation included in this staff report only impacts the festivals for the remainder of FY 23-24. As part of the FY 24-25 budget process, City staff, along with City Council, may also make budget recommendations if there is a desire to increase the budget allocations for specific events and/or add other events to the City’s budget.