Signed September 2013 excerpts from that Settlement Agreement:
NOW THEREFORE, the Parties desire to enter into this agreement…to compromise, settle and resolve all disputes among them, including the federal case, … the parties hereby enter into the following agreement. (BRC LLC appealed the Decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2014.)
1.7 Burning Man Event or Event is an assembly…sponsored by BRC customarily occurring each year during a period of eight days … (BRC LLC’s 2014 Burning Man event opened Aug. 24, and closed Sept. 2, making it a 10-day event.)
6.4 Essence of the Bargain — Except as otherwise indicated, each and all of promises set forth in this agreement … form the essence of the bargain set forth in this agreement and are not severable from the remainder of this agreement; any attempt by a party to abrogate any of the promises herein shall entitle the other party to terminate this agreement for material breach, without prejudice to any other remedies. Federal District Judge Robert C. Jones criticized the settlement, calling it “illegal, unenforceable and absurd.”
BRC now claims $45 million to the Nevada economy; in 2012 they donated, in lieu of festival/licensing fees, $66,000 (to Pershing County charities, including Pershing General Hospital, Marzen House Museum, Lovelock Food Bank, Safe Haven Rescue Zoo and the Chamber of Commerce) of the $585,000 (to northern Nevada) from ice sales.
Under the settlement agreement, the county receives $240,000 for up to a 69,999 peak population (BLM’s population cap through 2015 is 70,000). There will be no increase due to CPI for 2015. Payment remains static and was for an eight-day event, not a 10-day event as was the case in 2014. Children aren’t counted, only paid participants, though they are estimated by BRC to be 2 percent of the population.
The waived festival fee per the Settlement Agreement ($1.50 per person, per day) would total less than the vehicle pass fee imposed since 2014. Fifty dollars per vehicle for 2015 or about $1.35 million in additional revenue.
The estimated cost of the event, by Burningman.org, has been about one-third of estimated revenue from the ticket sales, which for 2015 are about $27.75 million; 2012 Pershing County cost was $349,000; 2014 payment would have been $240,000.
Note: BRC LLC has revenue streams from other endeavors with the event. None of that is included, just tickets sales. Cost of the tickets ($479,741) themselves exceeds law enforcement costs.
Pershing County will have to build a new jail, not for a county population of 6,000, but a population of over 75,000 if Burning Man stays and doesn’t continue to grow. As taxpayers, we have to pay for the infrastructure even if we aren’t using it by being incarcerated. Some of BRC’s participants, volunteers and contractors, have had to use it and for extended periods of time. BRC has chosen not to support the infrastructure they have used. Note: Some of the court costs for certain Category A felonies are recoverable — “such payments shall be based upon complete documentation of such expenses supplied by county to BRC, and under no circumstances shall such expenses include capital or fixed costs.”
Pershing General Hospital has no hope of serving that many people, not with its funding limitations. Our neighbor to the north, HGH, will no longer benefit from the event. Those funds now leave the state, which doesn’t affect us as none of those funds came to our county, just Washoe and Humboldt counties.
Pershing County has tried the “integrated command,” which doesn’t work as it was envisioned except as an unworkable model for the PCSO. Pershing County has enabled BRC to both grow and increase in profitability at our expense. BRC continues seeking to increase their profitability at county expense. Pershing County should have implemented cost recovery as BLM has had to.
BLM has plenty of empty Nevada land. Burning Man was in Washoe County and can be there again, as there is no benefit to Pershing County and Washoe, both benefits and lobbied for Burning Man; we should simply bid them adieu. The county should also take advantage of the “escape clause” terminating the “sham” agreement for BRC’s multiple violations, thus declaring void what has been described as “this one-sided, illegal Exemption and Settlement Agreement.” Then return to the reasonable festival fee of $1.50 per day, per person.
Citations: Comprehensive Festival Ordinance Waiver, Law Enforcement and Settlement Agreement between Black Rock City LLC and Pershing County, Nevada.
Case 3:12-cv-00435-RCJ-VPC Document 104 Filed 01/06/14
http://burners.me/2014/02/25/sheriff-reserves-right-to-protect-kids/
http://burningman.org/event/preparation/ticket-money/.
David Skelton is a resident of Lovelock.
