Event Tax Compromise For Music Venues in Buffalo, New York

Buffalo music venues are hoping a compromise can heal the shock of a proposed event tax.

Talk about a sour note: As first reported by Investigative Post, venue owners were notified by a letter from City Hall last week that they might be on the hook for a fee every time they host a concert, comedian, or any other kind of performance for which they sell tickets.

It’s another way in which the city is looking to make up a big budget gap that could hit in the coming years.

The letter cited a portion of the city code that’s been on the books for years but hasn’t been implemented, at least not widely or uniformly across the board, but would hit just about any venue where concerts take place: Electric City, the Town Ballroom, Nietzsche’s, Mr. Goodbar, Riverworks, Babeville, and others.

Sent by the city’s Department of Permit & Inspection Services, the fee would apply to events that charge for a ticket or admission; the initial proposal would be a fee-per-event charge, with a price of $55 if the event’s tickets cost $25 or less, increasing to $350 per event if tickets are sold for $100 or more.

When contacted, venue owners, with one exception, said they’d never heard of this amusement license or paid for one, and they voiced their concerns about the increased fees which would almost certainly add to the price of concert tickets in a city that’s opened several new venues this year alone. The only exception to the venue owners’ surprise was at Shea’s, where a representative said they were familiar and have been paying the fee for some time.

However, there might be some relief in sight: North District Councilmember Joe Golombek said there’s discussion about a possible compromise that would allow the city to help mitigate its anticipated $40 million budget shortfall without hurting venue owners as badly.

“I understand that there needs to be some sort of legislation to make sure things like rave parties and stuff like that don’t pop up all over the place and keep everybody safe, but when I spoke to the Halls from Sportsmen's Tavern a week ago, I wasn’t familiar at all” with this proposal, he said. Golombek said he and some other council members “requested that there be maybe a sort of flat fee” to make it easier for venue operators to cover a licensing fee without forcing them out of business or charging patrons exorbitant high prices for tickets.

A flat fee “makes it more fair and more equitable, because it hurts our smaller businesses far more than the bigger businesses,” Golombek said.

Just last month, the Buffalo Common Council adopted a series of budget-oriented resolutions to try to help the city work its way out of budget woes and back into financial stability. Among the resolutions are:

• Appointment of a Common Council member to the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority
• Release of detailed monthly reports from the Administration and Finance Department to the Common Council on vacancies, including civil service, exempt and union jobs;
• A wide-ranging review of non-revenue generating activities, conducted by the Department of Administration and Finance in partnership with the Comptroller’s Office, the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority, and department leaders to find which activities could be suspended or cut until the budget is stabilized;
• Suggestions from each department on possible revenue-generating projects or activities, including “reviewing and updating fee schedules, pursuing grant opportunities and leveraging public and private partnerships,” and
• A monthly budget status meeting between the City Comptroller and the Department of Administration and Finance with the Common Council to discuss the budget.