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Not a big deal

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Illinois

* This doesn’t bother me at all…

According to the auditor general, the costs of Illinois’ two state fairs exceeded revenues last year.

In a report issued yesterday (Thursday), Illinois Auditor General William Holland said the 2007 fair in Springfield cost taxpayers more than $3.4 million. The Du Quoin State Fair exceeded revenues by more than $900,000 in 2007, although that is less than the nearly $940,000 deficit in 2006.

According to officials at the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the deficit at the state fairgrounds in Springfield is inflated by the approximately $2.6 million spent of maintaining the facility.

* Personally, I think it’s silly to think that the fairs ought to pay for themselves. So, I agree with Squibb…

Ag spokesman Jeff Squibb says the purpose of the fair is not to make a buck for the state, but to showcase the state’s agricultural assets.

“Certainly we would like it to (pay for itself), but we don’t believe that the purpose of the fair is to make a profit,” Squibb said. “I think you need to consider the return the state gets for its investment in the fair.”

* Some of this is problemmatic, however…

The report also said the fair “did not have adequate controls over gate and parking admissions,” and “did not perform adequate procedures to ensure that all leases for space were properly enforced and that all space rental permits were properly displayed.”

Permits not properly displayed is no biggie, but they need to be on top of those gate and parking admissions. Read the full audits here and here.

Thoughts?

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 9:53 am

Comments

Do legislators still get in free?

How many don’t have to pay?

Comment by Cal Skinner Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:05 am
If we’re going to “lose” that much money on the Fair, don’t you think they could get better acts. (Forgive me Weird Al and Huey)
Cut corners everywhere else and just say here “hot performer A” is $3 million to play the Illinois State Fair.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:17 am
Press gets in free, but we “cover” the fair. lol. I’d pay if they said I had to. But they’ll have to take my parking pass out of my cold, dead hands.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:17 am
I go to the fair every year. It’s a joke how easy it is to get in with out paying. I pay for a parking pass but I need to pick it up inside the fairgrounds. So all you have to do is say you are going to pick up your pass and they let you right through.

Comment by Been There Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:19 am
In other words, the state fair is run like the rest of state government- costs exceed revenue. With all due respect to the auditor general, that has to be the least surprising finding in years. Maybe they should eliminate the butter cow??

And please, please, get some decent music acts to play the fair. The recorded music industry is in the dumper and bands need to tour to make a buck, so let’s get better music.

Comment by DuPage Dave Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:34 am
I’ve never been to the Illinois State Fair, but I’ve been to the equivalent in Buenos Aires. Those were the biggest freaking cows I’ve ever seen. No wonder the Argentines eat so much steak.

It wouldn’t raise money, but might attract attention: Add “legislators” to the livestock exhibition. Each fundraiser/string-puller could exhibit their work in the form of a complacant legislator, exhibited in a simple wooden stall. Each day they could groom the lawmaker, de-lint his suit, and hose out the stall waste. They could be judged on things like brilliance of smile, glossiness of hair, ability to speak in whole sentences, and overall appropriations brought home.

The winner would of course be slaughtered and eaten.

Comment by Muskrat Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:38 am
I was born in DuQuoin and now live in Carbondale, so I have been familiar with the DuQuoin Fair since I was a child and have this to say about it.

Why is it acceptable, or even logical to think that the state should be in the business of losing money every year in order to entertain the citizens of the state.

I could understand throwing 4.3 million dollars down the drain if the state was awash in cash, but there are more important things to be funding with those dollars than state fairs.

Also, how many states have TWO state fairs? I know the logic is that since Illinois is a “long” state geographically that it gives more people the chance to participate in this year cash dump.

I like going to the fair as much as anyone else, but why is it acceptable for the state to lose money year after year on fairs, when if these dollars were being lost in some other state agency there would be media members and capitol fax blog comments screaming from the rooftops.

I can get a corndog and a soda at the grocery store, I dont need to lose 4.3 million every year for that.

Comment by Speaking At Will Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:43 am
===I can get a corndog and a soda at the grocery store===

Man, some people are just downers about everything.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:45 am
But the corn dogs at the fair are superior to what you get at the grocery store.

Comment by ChampaignDweller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:57 am
Rich

I’m not trying to be a “downer” but I do know that the people of DuQuoin would rather have a new high school with that 4.3 million dollars than another fair.

I recently toured the highschool in DuQuoin and the students there go to class in rooms that have buckets catching water leaking through the roof.

The main office runs over a dozen computers off of power strips that are plugged into one another. There are more pressing needs than the fairs, there may be hospitals shut down because of slow payment from the state.

I dont mind a state fair, but when the Ag spokeman Jeff Squibb says the purpose of the fair is not to make a profit, it makes me beleive they are not even trying to make it break even, that is a deservice to the people of Illinois.

Comment by Speaking At Will Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:59 am
===The Du Quoin State Fair exceeded revenues by more than $900,000 in 2007, although that is less than the nearly $940,000 deficit in 2006.===

At least choose the right number.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:01 am
:Ag spokesman Jeff Squibb says the purpose of the fair is not to make a buck for the state, but to showcase the state’s agricultural assets.:

I love going to the fair, but if it’s supposed to be a showcase of the state’s agricultral assets, then why isn’t it? The 4-H kids are shoved back into one corner of the grounds and practically ignored…it’s all about the grandstand shows, the rides, the entertainment venues, etc. How many people actually go to the cattle shows (other than the participants)? Maybe if they would focus on the agricultural aspects of it more, rather than spending money on the non-agricultural sides, they wouldn’t be losing so much money.

Comment by Miranda Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:02 am
=== Maybe if they would focus on the agricultural aspects of it more, rather than spending money on the non-agricultural sides, they wouldn’t be losing so much money.===

I would bet those non-ag things is where they make the money. Or at least many of the non-ag things.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:04 am
Well, I think the point is still brought home even if I didnt ring up the total correctly. More pressing needs in Illinois, but I shall move on.

Comment by Speaking At Will Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:06 am
One day each year during the State Fair our organization works the admissions gates as a fundraiser. It’s difficult controlling whom gets in free when every other person that comes through lies and says they are so and so. Or they flash some fake badge in your face. What are we to do? Each gate is manned by Illinois State Police and we are constantly calling them over to kick someone out or let them in. The State Police have told us that if someone is insistent on getting in and confrontational, just let them go because it’s not worth an altercation or risking our safety. You’d be surprised at some of the strange individuals that come through those gates. But just like the guy above that thinks he can lie and get in for free, those are the cheats jipping the state of its funds. It’s a whole $3 people (and kids 12 and under are free), come on.

Comment by Downstate Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:15 am
That is where the money is made….and lost. But for the ag dept to claim that it is primarily to show off Illinois’ ag assets bothers me, because it’s clearly not the focus of the fair anymore…it seems like more of an afterthought. The outrage over the grandstand acts announcement just proves the point - is anyone upset because Joe’s cow won over Fred’s? I covered the fair for years as an ag reporter, and always made sure that writing stories of the ag shows came first over the entertainment stories. My own personal bias, I guess.

Comment by Miranda Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:16 am
And, how much did the administration spend on attorneys to obtain the ruling that the Governor can specify when and at what time to convene a “special session”? In comparison, the fairs are taxpayer bargains; at least the public gets some entertainment for its dollar.

Comment by Keyser Soze Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:19 am
It was about a million, and we did get plenty of entertainment for those dollars, but I see your point.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:21 am
I’ve been at the campgrounds during the fair and watched the fair staff come through the grounds and look for permits in camper’s windows and tell them they had to be displayed on the right side of the front window. The guy doing to the checking asked several to move them from the door window to the front. The camper just laughed at the guy. Its pretty clear that some of the blame should rest on those camping at the fair. Sometimes I wonder if Holland and his staff live in an ivory tower and never visit the real world.

Comment by Give Me A Break Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:44 am
That Holland is such a scrouge. The fair is great. Who cares if it makes money. Folks will be surprised how big a draw Weird Al. He will do a lot better than the head bangers or hip hoppers. I bet Giggles and Fumbles will be dancing in the aisles.

Comment by Reddbyrd Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 11:59 am
How would a private corporation handle a state fair, or would a private corporation even want a state fair today?

Since bureaucratizing the State Fair, it has had little incentive to justify itself. They focus on attendance numbers and compare those numbers to other bureaucratized state fairs. This is a very low hurtle, don’t you agree?

Just how slack can they act? Now they aren’t even concerned if they break even? After years of flat attendance and a debt, they are “fine”?

They must be used to working with animal offal, because that excuse stinks in my opinion.

Agricultural focus and wholesome family entertainment barely defines the Illinois State Fair. As a Chicagoan I loved the fair because except for the Lincoln Park Petting Zoo, there were few places I could go to see domesticated farm animals and see something green besides the Chicago River on St. Patty’s Day. Seeing farm kids show their 4-H projects and watching the cleanest farm animals ever shown was a delight.

I still like it, but the State Fair is in a horrible rut. There seems to be little effort in making the Fair one deserving the name Illinois. There had been an embarrassingly dated Jimmy Buffet-ish Margaritaville area, (how this fits into Central Illinois is beyond me), a Mayberry-Andy Griffith-ish area which is presented like a bad high school drama, while real farm animals are shown on the periphery of the fairgrounds as though they are secondary players to the beer tents and bad carnival rides.

It seems that the people responsible for the State Fair are contented to wash down the streets, take out the trash and drop a new cake into the urinals - then open the gates again.

Demanding a profit as well as demanding higher attendance figures, all done under basic auditing standards is the least we could expect from these people. The fair lasts only a couple of weeks, couldn’t they try?

Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 12:05 pm
DuQuoin brings a lot of money to that area every year, it is a major chunk of the local economy every year, in a region where you don’t have much else going on that brings in tax revenue. If the state dropped the DQSF in favor of just handing out checks for things, even noble things like fixing up the high school, I think that would be worse for the local economy, not better.

And the high school situation there is likely the same problem we have with ed funding statewide: basing the funds off property taxes means rich areas have good schools and poorer areas get scraps.

Yes, we could scale back the state fairs to purely agricultural exhibitions. Attendance would certainly drop quite a bit. You will never get to a point where it will break-even just on the livestock showing, because you still need money for the premiums (prizes) for the winners, which draws the farmers to undertake the expense of raising and transporting and showing their animals in the first place. Raise entry fees on the exhibitors too high, and nobody will show. I think this is just one of those cases where government is there to do what pure capitalistic free market forces can’t do. Some things you don’t do just for profit.

So non-ag components are a needed boost. Good stewardship demands though that such added attractions be chosen based on their potential to bring in more than they cost. This is why you get the entertainment you see, and some complain about: these are the available and affordable acts you can get for that time of the year that will attract people living within a couple hours’ drive of the venue. Springfield is surrounded by farmland, with a few college towns poking out here and there. You will always get more country music acts than rap or etc. because of this. I thought it was smart and brave to book Weird AL this year: we already got our tickets and are sure he’s going to sell out the grandstand as one of the few non-country “family-friendly” acts there this year.

Comment by Furter Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 12:18 pm
By the way, I think this “de-emphasizing ag” stuff is a buncha crud.

I grew up on a farm in Iroquois County. We didn’t get much entertainment out there, so the county fair was a big deal. If it was all animals, it would’ve been a huge bore for us 4H kids. Also, when we went to the State Fair the animals were fine, but the rest of the extravaganza blew my young mind.

Farm kids like that non-ag stuff, too.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 12:23 pm
Perhaps there is value in the State assuming so cost reponsibilities for the Fairs, but it seems that there should be some effort in trying to run the Fairs profitably.

One step in that direction is to have the facts available and to have some professionals review the data to see if changes can be made to the cash flow without damaging the experience.

If everything that can be done is already in place, the show the citizens the analysis and that should satisfy the casual questioner.

The problem generally stems from the fact that in government, we want to do what is ‘good’ regardless what the cost. Examples are public transportation and health care. The fairs are just a tiny element of the thought process.

Ultimately what percentage of the residents of Illinois attend the events? Everyone pays for it, but only a few enjoy the largess.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 12:43 pm
The city teens, boys and girls, spent most of the time walking through the barns because all the teen farm boys and girls were totally hot.

Comment by Chanson Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 12:44 pm
Chanson, we always went where the “city” kids were for the same reason. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 12:45 pm
I am from Southern Illinois, and love the DuQuoin State Fair. I am glad my tax dollars support it and the fairgrounds and am also glad to support the Illinois State Fair for the fine folks upstate.

I guarantee you that if you tell the people of DuQuoin that they can have a new school, but that the fair would be taken away as an exchange, you would have a revolt on your hands. Besides, the DuQuoin State Fair isn’t just about DuQuoin. It’s about the entire region.

Comment by Old Shepherd Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 1:08 pm
I remember Bomke’s comment to the news when they asked him if a lot of jobs were moving to Chicago (which we all know now were), he basically said I don’t think so, the Gov’s office says they are not moving jobs and at this time I have to believe them.

Hey Larry I got some great land to sell you!!!

Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 1:16 pm
Rich, think about how much they would lose without the beer tents! You have done your share to subsidize them.

Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 1:18 pm
lol. True.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 1:27 pm
Since everyone seems to love these fairs so much and not care about the finances, why not expand and offer more of them.

The Chicago area seems to be left out. A nice taxpayer subsidized shindig in Naperville or Waukegan I’m sure would be enjoyed by the masses and no one in the rest of the state would mind their tax dollars going to it.

heck, turn the Taste of Chicago over to the state and let taxpayers everywhere subsidize that. Everyone on board?

What’s fair is fair.

Comment by Frank Booth Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 1:46 pm
Do you think that no state tax dollars are used to subsidize those constant Chicago summer festivals?

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 1:48 pm
Personally, I wouldn’t see a problem with having a small fair similar to the DuQuoin State Fair somewhere a few hours north of Springfield. I agree. What’s fair is fair.

Comment by Old Shepherd Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 1:51 pm
Rich,
Oh I’m aware fine lawmakers like Ken Dunkin ensure the Chicago area gets its share of taxpayer subsidized “house music” festivals and the like.
But c’mon, $3 million in losses and that place barely has electricity because the wiring rotted out. Raise prices, do something to at least make it appear you’re putting forth an effort.

If there was a line item in the state budget or agency for the Taste of Chicago and every year it exceeded revenues by a couple millions dollars, downstaters would scream.

You know it. I know it.
Anyone who thinks differently is just wrong.

Comment by Frank Booth Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 2:09 pm
That $2.6 million for maintaining the facility during the fair sounds like a good reason to increase exhibitor, supplier, carny fees, and more.

Comment by Cheswick Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 2:40 pm
~~ The Chicago area seems to be left out. ~~

As a Chicagoan that has spent a lot time downstate, as well as grew up in a rural area, please do me a favor - for you own safety, never say to folks in rural Illinois that Chicago is being slighted by not having a major state-supported event in the Chicago area.

Comment by montrose Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 3:20 pm
There are plenty of county fairs north of Springfield. One of the really big ones is about 1-2 hours drive west in Sandwich.

The fairs are one of the few expenditures the gov has left us to enjoy. He keeps cutting parks and not repairing roads. All that is left is to ride your horse to the local county fair.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 3:49 pm
Clarification: The Sandwich Fair (DeKalb Co. Fair) is west of Chicago the same week as the DuQuion Fair, I think.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 3:51 pm
I remember going to the Du Quoin Fair when it was “private”. Sure there is a loss…. But ~4 million total. Let’s try some perspective. the Gov gave a million to a school.. oh wait his mistake it actually went to an organization ran by a convict that he pardoned Talk about sustaining themselves, what about the CTA and RTA ?… We’ve dumped millions into them both and they still have problems staying on the tracks….
The Auditor General is a genious… Hey… Nothing the state is involved in makes money or seems efficient in any way. I won’t even charge them for the report….

What they should do is charge everyone and send them to building or booth and make them prove they should get a refund…Have the state police enforce no exceptions…..

Comment by 618er Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 4:17 pm
Montrose,
exactly.
If this kind of event was in the Chicago area people would scream about wasteful Daley/Stroger regimes.
But it’s downstate and theirs tractors so it’s all good.
Oh, we don’t have enough to pay health care providers. We’ll I’m sure that has nothing to do with the State Fair and it’s red ink.

Fair’s great. Go to it every year. But it hasn’t changed appreciably in the dozen years I’ve been going.

Seems like at least an effort could be made to either make it more efficient or make the losses more justifiable other than saying it’s downstate tradition.

Comment by Frank Booth Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 4:23 pm
– If there was a line item in the state budget or agency for the Taste of Chicago and every year it exceeded revenues by a couple millions dollars, downstaters would scream. –

Just wait until the bills for the 2016 Olympics start coming due.

Comment by fredbird Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 4:43 pm
The first thing I go to see at the Fair are the farm animals. I love it. I also perform there with a pipe band, so it’s double fun. Another great part is to find a bench and just people watch - very entertaining!

Comment by Disgusted Friday, Jun 6, 08 @ 10:06 pm
It’s not too late to hit up the Tremont Turkey Festival this weekend. It has always made money. There’s a lot to be said for small-town-wide volunteering to help keep things a-float.

Starting in 1965′ish, it funded construction of the town swimming pool. Now 40-some years later, it is helping fund the new pool as well (after funding numerous ball diamonds, etc. over the years). Check it out some year. It has the best slow-grilled turkey around; not to mention the strawberry shortcakes and smoothies:) It’s less than an hour’s drive north of Springfield.

Comment by Cornerfield Saturday, Jun 7, 08 @ 11:04 pm
The ISF exerts absolutely no control or monitoring over ABC who is contracted for parking/admission. Whatever ABC says is taken as accurate with no checks and balances.
$963,539 in gate receipts. $3 per person. That means only 321,000 paid attendees. But the ISF says at least double attended the Fair. Not likely ABC and their contracted clubs let 320,000 slip in unpaid. Anyone who has attended the ISF for the duration knows more than 320,000 attended. So what happened to the money?

Comment by Insider Sunday, Jun 8, 08 @ 2:50 pm