§ 15.52.070 — Fees

15.52.070 - Fees

A. Application Fee. A non-refundable application fee of $75 shall be due upon filing of a special events permit or authorization application for all event types except free speech events and mixed free speech events. The Special Events Committee shall waive the application fee for free speech events and mixed free speech events if the individual applicant qualifies as an indigent natural person as defined in Section 15.52.005. In making its determination, the Special Events Committee may require relevant information and documentation as may, in the opinion of the Special Events Chair, be reasonably necessary to verify the indigent status of the individual. B. Administrative Fee. For athletic events, commercial events, community events, and parade events, the administrative fee is the sum of five fee components as calculated in Exhibit A for 15.52.070 and described below in this subsection 15.52.070.B. The administrative fee for mixed free speech events shall be the lower of a) the fees as calculated in this subsection 15.52.070.B using the five fee components related solely to non-expressive or commercial activity, at those events or b) the actual costs incurred by the City for planning, review, and permitting before the event; required inspections during the event; a traffic control plan; noise variation permits and reviews; business license reviews; and insurance reviews. The administrative fee shall not be charged for free speech events as defined in Section 15.52.005. Exhibit A for 15.52.070 [image omitted; see the official code] 1. Street/Bridge Use. To determine the type of street segment, the most current SDOT Planned Arterial Classifications Map, which reflects the legal street classification as described in Section 15.60.015, shall be used. In calculating this fee component, the following shall be reflected: a. Street segments in the downtown core are counted as principal arterials regardless of the actual street classification. b. The fee per hour is charged, rounded up to the nearest ½ hour, based on the amount of time the street is planned to be closed or modified to traffic. c. Hours between the time of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. are not included in the count if the event is 30 hours or longer. 2. Arterials Intersected. This component of the fee is calculated by multiplying the number of additional arterial intersections closed or modified by the number of hours it is closed or modified to traffic and/or the general public by the applicable fee per hour. To determine the type of arterial intersected, the most current SDOT Planned Arterial Classifications Map, which reflects the legal street classification as described in Section 15.60.015, shall be used. In calculating this fee component: a. Those items identified in subsections 1.a, 1.b, and 1.c of this subsection 15.52.070.B shall be taken into account. b. Intersections shall only be counted if the closed or occupied streets will block a full arterial intersection; if half the intersected street is an arterial and the other half is an access street, it is not included in the count. c. If the closed street intersects a street with one type of arterial on one side and a different type of arterial on the other side, the lower level arterial is utilized for the count. d. An arterial is considered intersected if normal traffic operations and conditions cannot be executed. An intersection that continues to allow traffic and transit to flow but requires them to wait longer than would be typically expected is included in the count. 3. Prior Year Discount. If the event is a repeat event taking place in the same general time, place, and manner as the most recent event, which must have taken place at least once within the previous two calendar years, the prior year discount applies. A discount of 25 percent is applied to the total components of subsections 1 and 2 of this subsection 15.52.070.B. 4. Alcohol Area Fee. For events that will include alcohol sales to the general public or event attendees as permitted by the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board, a fee per alcohol service area applies to those alcohol areas in a park, other City-owned property, excluding the Seattle Center area, or public place. The fee is $200 for the first alcohol area and $100 for each additional alcohol area. 5. Vendor Fee. For events providing or renting space to vendors selling or promoting products or services, a fee of $20 per vendor applies. The fee only applies to vendors selling or promoting a commercial product or commercial service in a park, other City-owned property excluding the Seattle Center area, or public place. Vendors engaged solely in expressive activity such as leafletting, pamphleting or solicitation, or who are engaged in the sale of goods that are inextricably intertwined with statements carrying a religious, political, philosophical, or ideological message are not included. Other vendors with non-sales-related or non-commercial-related actions are not included. C. Police Department Fee. For athletic events and commercial events, the police department fee applies and is calculated by multiplying the number of officers required to safely manage vehicle or waterway traffic and a reasonable number of officers within the event footprint to ensure safety and security by the number of hours per officer by a rate of $67 per officer per hour as calculated in Exhibit B for 15.52.070. The number of hours per officer are rounded up to the nearest half hour. A two hour minimum per officer applies. Any officers paid for by the organizer through agreements with Parks, the Seattle Center, or other agreements with the Seattle Police Department, are separate and not included as part of this fee. Police department fees shall not be charged for community events, parade events, free speech events, or mixed free speech events as defined in Section 15.52.005. Exhibit B for 15.52.070 [image omitted; see the official code] D. Citywide Event Fee. The citywide event fee is applicable only to citywide events as defined in Section 15.52.005. The chair of the Special Events Committee, in consultation with the Special Events Committee and Seattle Police Department, is hereby authorized to negotiate and finalize an agreement with organizers of citywide events concerning services, resources, fees, and safety and security. The agreement must be supported by the Chief of Police representative on the Special Events Committee and a majority vote of the Special Events Committee. The citywide event fee must delineate an amount for the administrative fee and the police department fee. E. Late Fees. If late fees are required as determined in subsection 15.52.060.A, the application fee shall be $150 and the administrative fee shall be 120 percent of the administrative fee calculated as if the event's application were submitted on time. F. Other Fees. Other costs and fees, to be paid in addition to the fees under this Section 15.52.070, include, but are not limited to: Seattle Parks fees (including vendor fees for vendors in parks); Seattle Center fees; utilized emergency management services; Seattle Fire Department and/or Fire Marshal inspection fees; parking meter loss revenue; business licensing fees; penalties; noise variance fees; and post-event cleanup. G. Fee Adjustments. The hourly rates described in subsections 1 and 2 of subsection 15.52.070.B shall be revised by the Special Events Committee annually based on changes in the purchasing power of the dollar during the preceding year shown by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA, First Six Months, published in or about August of each year by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. The first adjustment shall apply in 2018. Adjustments shall use 2017 as the base year but fee components shall not increase by more than ten percent from one year to the next. The Special Events Committee may determine whether to adjust the application fee, vendor fee, alcohol area fee, or police department fee, but it may only do so once per year in conjunction with the administrative fee adjustment and shall not increase by more than ten percent from one year to the next. Without including any phase-in discount, when the police department fee is established for an event for the first time, if an event is a repeat event taking place in the same general time, place, and manner as it did in the previous year, and no documented issues during previous years' events would demand the need for additional officer support, the police department fee for an event shall not increase by more than ten percent from the previous year. H. When Payable. A fee deposit in the entire amount of the administrative fee and police department fee, as applicable, is due and payable 30 days before the first date of the event unless the Special Events Committee authorized an alternate arrangement. In no circumstance shall the permit be issued without previous deposit of the entire fee. All payments shall be deposited into the City Treasury to the credit of the Treasurer's Clearing Fund; and once the event is complete, the amount due to the City shall be transferred to the General Fund Special Event Revenue Account. I. Refunds 1. The event organizer may apply for a refund to the Special Events Committee within 30 days after the original event start date. 2. The application fee is non-refundable. 3. If the permit has not been issued, the total fee deposit may be refunded at 100 percent. 4. If the permit was issued and fee deposit made but the event is cancelled by the Special Events Committee for a reason outside of the event organizer's control, the total fee deposit may be refunded at 100 percent. 5. If the permit was issued and fee deposit made but the event is cancelled by the event organizer at least three business days before the event start date, the administrative fee may be refunded at 50 percent and the police department fee may be refunded at 100 percent. 6. If the permit was issued and fee deposit made but the event is cancelled by the event organizer during the three business days before the event start date, the administrative fee shall not be refunded and the police department fee may be refunded at 90 percent. 7. If the amount of police officers and police officer hours paid for by the event organizer through the police department fee is greater than the number of police officers and police officer hours provided by the Seattle Police Department at the event, the fee amount overpaid by the event organizer shall be refunded at 100 percent. 8. If the actual costs for a mixed free speech event are less than the amount paid by the applicant, the applicant shall be refunded the excess paid. J. Phase-In Discount. If a 2016 event will be conducted in the same general time, place, and manner as the 2015 event but would realize a total special events fee increase from 2015 to 2016 if calculated in full as a result of these fee increases, then the total 2016 special events fee, comprised of the administrative fee and police department fee (if applicable), shall be discounted. The discounted special events fee for 2016 shall be equal to: the event's 2015 special events fee plus 50 percent of the total special events fee increase from 2015 to 2016. The phase-in discount applies to all special event types except citywide events. The discount applies to 2016 events only. For 2017 and later, the full special events fee applies to all events.

(Ord. 124860, §§ 8, 9, 2015.)