The Wolf River Builders Association, citing the roller coaster economy, asked the Public Property Committee on Friday for a break on its rental fees.
The final decision was dropping the fee from $500 a day to $350. WRBA had asked for $250 per day for its annual home show in April, but the committee felt that might be too much of a break and recommended somewhere in between.
The county’s policy on the Crawford Center permits the committee to grant rental fees on a case by case basis. Usually, only nonprofits like 4-H groups are charged $250 per day plus utilities.
The second category, which usually requires a minimum of $500 per day, is for hybrid organizations, defined as nonprofit entities that charge fees for vendors and/or admission. WRBA charges most of its vendors about $250 if they are part of the group and higher for nonmembers.
WRBA officials had been paying the $500 per day fee to the county ever since it started the home show, but the organization caught a break last year when the home show was scheduled at the same time the Shawano Hockey League was renting the facility. A deal was struck to have WRBA pay for the one day the hockey league was not renting and let WRBA sublet from the league for the other four days.
The 2014 home show is scheduled after the hockey league is expected to be finished with the facility, so the county will receive the fee for the entire show, which will include two days of the show itself, one day for cleanup and one to two days for setting up.
WRBA spokesman Cap Wallrich told the committee Friday that many of the vendors who participate in the home show find clients and future work when they participate, which helps provide jobs for the county.
“Most of the home shows around the state are run by their local builders’ association, and it’s usually their biggest fundraiser of the year,” Wallrich said. “It helps us keep our dues down for our membership.”
The reason for the lower rent request comes for lagging participation in recent years. Boasting 80 or more vendors in its heyday, WRBA has seen participation drop to around 40, according to Wallrich.
“We have a declining membership, and we have declining participation in our show every year because of the economy,” he said. “We want to keep the show going.”
The home show does not charge a gate admission, Wallrich said, and most of the proceeds from the event go to benefit Wolf River Habitat for Humanity and the area food pantries.
Supervisor Jerry Erdmann recommended setting the fee at $300 per day, noting all the charity work the organization does.
“They could come back with some figures and figure out if the lowering did help,” Erdmann said.
Supervisor Robert Krause was hesitant to set the rate that low, noting that the charging of vendors does not put WRBA in the nonprofit definition outlined in the Crawford Center policy.
“I don’t think it should be $250, but I don’t think it should be $500,” Krause said.
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