The cost of everything from Events Center room rentals to some building permits will increase under a Master Fee Schedule under consideration by the Great Bend City Council, which discussed the changes Monday night. A final plan will be up for approval when the council meets on Monday, Dec. 19.
Last year, the council approved the development of the schedule, which lists all fees, City Administrator Kendal Francis said.
“It is designed to encompass all the fees the city charges into one resolution with the idea that it will be reviewed and updated annually.”
Although most of these remained the same, present to provide the rationale for the changes were Community Coordinator/Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Christina Hayes, who oversees the center, and Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns, who handles building-related matters.
Events Center
The center will see the biggest changes, Francis said.
The city now charges $1,000 a day for the big ballroom, $750 for half of the room, $250 for the new back rooms and $100 for the front small room. In addition, there is a 10% catering fee (a percentage of the gross food and alcohol sales) and a refundable $500 key deposit.
Users also get one set-up and one clean-up day at no charge. Extra days cost $100.
The proposed change calls for $1,500 a day for the big ballroom, $950 for half, $300 for the new back rooms and $150 for the front small room. There is still a catering fee, but that ranges from $50 to $750, depending on the size of the event.
Furthermore, the set-up and clean-up days will not be free, and will be billed at half the cost of the room used.
“My concern was with raising the rates on some of that stuff is that we might overprice ourselves and that might hurt us,” said Ward 4 Councilwoman Natalie Towns.
Originally part of the neighboring former Highland Hotel, the city has owned the center since 2011. Since then, Hayes said they have not raised the rates.
She realizes they are running a risk of upsetting groups who use the center, but it is time for an increase.
There was talk about how the facility pricing compared to other venues in Great Bend and surrounding communities. Even with the changes, it is below what many places are charging, Hayes said.
Now, the building is losing money. The reasons are many, but key are the funds transferred for improvements and the hit that COVID-19 made on event traffic.
But, Hayes said it is difficult to predict if these changes will make the venue profitable. “There are a lot of factors,” she said.
The transfers have stopped and COVID is no longer a problem. But, they still have event contracts booked at the current rate they must honor and use of the building varies from year to year.
Still, after remodeling, they have more rooms to rent now, and that will be a plus, Hayes said.
She said it will take two or three years with the new schedule to see if the alterations will push the center into the black.
“The Event Center needs to become self-sufficient, and correct rental fees is a key component,” said Ward 1 Councilwoman Jolene Biggs.
The center is funded in two ways – room rental fees and 1% of the city’s transient guest tax.
Building fees
In addition to building permits, changes recommended by Burns cover such things as electrical inspections, gas pressure testing, air conditioning/furnace installation, and mobile home and structure moving. Some rates were increased, some were decreased and a couple of new fees were added, said Burns, who served as the city’s building official before being named assistant administrator.
Basically, he said, they have cut the costs for smaller projects and raised them on larger ones.
