Summerfest security
Ald. Robert Bauman is putting pressure on the festival over policing costs.
Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman is ratcheting up the pressure on Summerfest over how much The Big Gig pays Milwaukee for policing.
Bauman is using an objection to Summerfest’s special event permit to force the issue.
“The point here is not to shut down the permit, it’s to get them to pay the fully allocated cost of the police services they use,” Bauman said in an interview.
Milwaukee World Festival Inc., which runs Summerfest, and the city are in a monthslong dispute over security costs that have topped $800,000 for four straight years.
Summerfest has said it is abiding by the terms of its lease. The city has been trying to get more money for security.
Officials from Summerfest and Milwaukee Police Department have been conducting talks to discuss the costs.
On Wednesday, during a meeting of Milwaukee Common Council’s Public Works committee, Bauman blocked Summerfest’s application for street closures and other restrictions during the 11-day festival period.
He also introduced a resolution to change the appeals process so that the full council would have to vote on it.
If the ordinance is amended, Summerfest would qualify as a Class AA event for the activities outside the Maier Festival Park grounds.
Under the new Class AA event category, Summerfest would be required to pay the full cost of policing outside the festival grounds on all public rights of ways that are affected by closures, according to the amendment.
Bauman said that in 2019, for the 11day festival, Summerfest paid the city $46,000 for the street closures, with $36,000 to the Department of Public Works and $10,000 to Milwaukee Police Department.
By comparison, the one-day Milwaukee Marathon reimbursed the city $72,000, the public works portion was billed for $14,000 and the police portion for $58,000, Bauman said.
Milwaukee World Festival said in a statement that it is “engaged in active conversations” with Milwaukee police as it conducts “appropriate due diligence regarding MPD’s costs for services.”
“While we have not met with Alderman Bauman directly to discuss these issues, we are aware of his opinion given his comments at the recent Public Works committee meeting.
“Given that our dialogue with MPD is ongoing, we are not going to debate or negotiate via the media. MWF will continue conversations directly with MPD. Again, these conversations are taking place in earnest, in consultation with our Board chairman, and a committee of the Board appointed to study this issue, and try to find a reasonable solution.”
Summerfest operates at Maier Festival Park under a lease with the City of Milwaukee Board of Harbor Commissioners.
The lease was renegotiated in 2009 and runs through 2030. Summerfest said it pays an average of $1.8 million to rent the facility, including a separate supplemental service fee. Every five years, there is a bump in the lease payment.
In 2020, Summerfest will pay $2.4 million, although it drops back down to $1.6 million in 2021.
A separate supplemental service fee payment was negotiated in the current deal. Summerfest will pay $138,423 in 2020.
According to the 2009 lease, and a letter from City Attorney Grant Langley explaining the document, the supplemental service fee is intended only to partially offset the rising security costs, not fully cover them.