The  Finance and Citywide Projects Committee recommended to waive Special Events fees for the 2018 South Beach Mango Festival in the amount of $29,323.25. In addition, the Administration recommends approving the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee recommendation to amend Ordinance 2018-417 such  that any request for Special Event fee waivers exceeding $25,000, shall first obtain an advisory recommendation of the Finance and City Projects Committee, and if approved, shall be considered a City sponsorship with an accompanying agreement and detailing the public benefit.

The South Beach Mango Festival is a new event, planned for Sunday, August 5, 2018, from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., on Lummus Park, between 11th and 12th Streets.

At  the June 6, 2018 City Commission meeting, at the request of Commissioner Michael Gongora, the South Beach Mango Festival event producers put forward a request for a waiver of the following special event permitting fees:

Application fee: $250.00

Permit fee: $250.00

Vehicle Beach Access Passes: $1,500

Square footage fee: $24,610

Lummus Park user fee: $2,713.25

The total request for fee waivers is $29,323.25.

Pursuant to the new special event funding guidelines set forth in Ordinance 2018-4171, the City Commission referred this item for consideration to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee ("FCWCP") meeting on June 8, 2018.

At the FCWCP meeting, the Committee recommended special event fee waivers in the amount of $29,323.25, as requested.

In addition, the committee recommended that the City be a sponsor of the South Beach Mango Festival. 

Moreover, the FCWCP recommended that, in the spirit of the guidelines set forth in the Ordinance, all events requesting Special Event fee waivers in the amount of $25,000 or more should be referred for consideration to the FCWCP.  Additionally, should those event waivers be approved, this would then constitute City sponsorship of the event, and would require an agreement between the City and the event producer, including detail on the deliverables and public benefit among other details.

This recommendation is in line with the standards set forth in the Ordinance, Sec. 12-7(b) of Chapter 12 (Arts, Culture and Entertainment) of the City Code which states that "except for Sponsorships approved pursuant to Section 12-07(a) of [the City Code], any other request for City Sponsorship of an Event shall require (I) an advisory recommendation of the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee; and (ii) by a five-sevenths (5/7th) vote, of the City Commission," and Section 12-7(c) which states that "in considering approval of a Sponsorship for an Event, the City Commission may consider (I) whether the Event organizer has exercised good-faith diligent efforts to apply for grant funding that may be available from the City's Visitor and Convention Authority ("CVA") or Cultural Arts Council ("CAC"); (ii) the Event organizer's history and performance in delivering quality Events; (iii) any benefits being directly provided to the general public with respect to the Event, such as free or discounted tickets to persons residing in the City of Miami Beach, seniors, veterans, or members of disadvantaged groups; (iv) whether the event is accessible to the general public (either as a ticketed Event or otherwise); (v) the demonstrable economic impacts associated with the eVent; (vi) the demostrable media commitments secured by the Event organizer for the Event; or (vii) the efforts undertaken by the Event organizer to mitigate any quality of life impacts associated with the Event, including noise, littering, traffic, or parking impacts associated with an Event."

The Administration recommends approval of  the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee recommendation to approve a special events fee waiver for the South Beach Mango Festival in the amount of $29,323.25; and further, to amend Ordinance No. 2018-4171, such that all requests for special event fee waivers in the amount of $25,000 or more must first be considered by the FCYPC, and if approved, would constitute a City sponsorship of the event, with an accompanying agreement detailing deliverables and public benefit.