State budget cuts funding for fairs

Nearly one-fifth of the Palouse Empire Fair’s annual budget could be eliminated as the state Legislature wraps up its supplemental session.

Both the House and Senate budgets include drastic cuts to state fair funding. The House budget eliminates the $2 million fund altogether, while the Senate version cuts it to $500,000.

A final version of the budget is expected at the end of the special legislative session which began this week.

No matter which proposal goes through, the local fair’s budget will take a hit, said Palouse Empire Fair Manager Bob Reynolds

“The fair’s not going to stop just because of that,” said Reynolds. “But it does put a pretty good dent in what we can do.”

Last year, the state fund made up about $38,000 of the fair’s funding, nearly 20 percent of the fair’s total budget. That money has been dedicated to paying out premiums to exhibitors. The premiums are paid according to a points system which rewards entries with top ribbons.

Reynolds said fair officials are looking to replace the funding from other sources. Most likely area to tap is the fair’s entertainment budget, he said.

Fairs used to be funded by proceeds from horse racing. When that industry faded, the legislature decided to dedicate money from the state’s general fund to fairs.

The $2 million budget has been divided among the state’s 72 fairs and festivals based on the number of exhibitors and scoring by state commissioners who visit the fairs.

With more than 800 youth animal entries, the Palouse Empire Fair regularly ranks near the top of fairs in eastern Washington. Last year’s fair had more than 5,500 total exhibits.

Statewide gate receipts show more than 7.5 million people attended fairs last year, including nearly 25,000 at the Palouse Empire Fair in Mockonema.

“Fairs are big business in this state,” said Reynolds.

An economic impact study recently commissioned by the state fair association found the state’s $2 million fair spending generates more than $25 million in just the state’s share of sales tax revenue.

More than 83 cents of every sales tax dollar goes to the state, with the remainder split amongst local entities.