Bonnaroo nears deal to stay in Coffee County

The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and Coffee County, Tenn., officials are nearing a deal to keep the festival in Manchester for the next several years, ease traffic congestion leading to the property and pave the way for more events at Great Stage Park.

The two sides have been at the negotiating table for the last year over how to spend the fees collected on each ticket sold for Bonnaroo. The $3-per-ticket fees generate about $250,000 annually for the county’s operating budget.

Bonnaroo organizers have been pushing to direct the money to finance a road project they say is needed to improve arrival and departure for fans at the rural farm just off Interstate 24.

Initially organizers wanted all of the money collected on the ticket tax to be directed to upgrades on and around the festival grounds. Under a compromise, the funds would be used for debt payments to widen New Bushy Branch Road. That project would cost about $6 million. The two sides would regroup to decide how the money is spent after the road is paid for.

“Bonnaroo has been a great asset to our county,” said County Commissioner Rush Bricken, who is chairman of the commission’s budget committee. “We certainly think we can work out something that is equitable. They’ve been a great supporting citizen and

operation in our county over the years.”

The negotiations highlighted the unique relationship between one of the nation’s largest music festivals and the relatively small Coffee County government, which has an operating budget of $30 million, including school funding.

In making its sales pitch, Bonnaroo organizers calculated the sales tax collections generated by the festival. In addition to the ticket fees, the Coffee County government benefits from the local portion of sales tax collections from transactions at the property.

The county’s portion of the sales tax collections has amounted to $5.5 million over the last five years, according to Bonnaroo’s organizers. The most recent study in 2012 showed Bonnaroo has a $51 million economic impact, which includes spending throughout the region by fans visiting for the festival.

“This is really about more than Bonnaroo,” said Jeff Cuellar, vice president of strategic partnerships for AC Entertainment. “This is about the whole property and that publicprivate partnership to keep one of the world’s premier event and festival spaces thriving in Middle Tennessee.”

While there was no real threat for the festival to leave Coffee County, the government’s deal with Bonnaroo expired after this year’s event, which created a deadline to reach an agreement before next summer.

The deal requires approval of the county commission, which is expected to do so at its January meeting.

Bonnaroo organizers have pushed the concept that the property is poised to host more events. They’ve added water infrastructure, which already led to the addition of bathroom and shower facilities and is crucial to future upgrades at Great Stage Park.

Bricken, the budget chairman, said the key question during the negotiations was, “Why can’t Bonnaroo do both, keep paying the payments and pay for the road?”

Bricken said Bonnaroo is the only entity that pays a special fee to the county and that the organizers have always paid for extra costs such as police and emergency management overtime.

The road expansion is the linchpin for Bonnaroo organizers. By expanding New Bushy Branch Road from two lanes to three, organizers hope to greatly enhance the fan experience. Miles of standstill traffic is the norm, leading up to and after the festival.

“Expanding it to a three-lane road is going to offer us significant improvement to process [fans at security checks] and get people onto the site,” Cuellar said. “The community benefit of that obviously is we’re lessening traffic.”

The project will cost about $6 million, but the Tennessee Department of Transportation could help pay for up to $2 million of the bill.

Bricken, a top executive at the Coffee County Bank, acknowledged the project may not have happened without Bonnaroo pushing for it. But he said it’s hard to turn down infrastructure upgrades when “somebody else is paying for it.”

The hope of bringing more festivals, and therefore more visitors who spend money in the county, helped the sales pitch as well, Bricken said.

Live Nation owns a controlling stake in the festival, and the belief is that it is likely more concerts will be hosted at Great Stage Park in the coming years.

“If there are other events, a country music festival or a Christian music festival, as long as it’s a good event, I think the citizens will support it,” Bricken said. “As long as the safety and other support is put in place, I think it would be a good thing.”