Lea County approves record amount of almost $2.5M for entertainment for 2024 Fair
Andy Brosig/News-Sun
Riding on the heels of a year that saw big-named musical acts including Alabama and For King + Country, the Lea County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday upped the ante for the 88th annual Lea County Fair and Rodeo in 2024, approving an almost $2.5 million budget for entertainment for the annual event.
“Let’s face it, Lea County can afford this,” said Commissioner Dean Jackson during discussion on the proposed budget. “I’ve been told since I was on the fair board this is a quality-of-life issue for the people of Lea County.
“Guys, we blow the New Mexico State Fair (entertainment) out of the water. And I know that burns the governor and, to me, that’s alright.”
County staff submitted three options for consideration by commissioners, at $1.6 million, almost $1.8 million and the almost $2.5 million budget approved. Artist fees are the largest portion of the estimated cost of entertainment in all three including more than $1.6 million for fees alone in the option finally approved unanimously by commissioners.
Fairground director Wyatt Duncan told the board, along with artist fees, the expense includes booking agent fees, sound and production an miscellaneous other expenses including catering and other sundries not covered under one of the other budget lines. The budget also includes an estimated $50,000 in “sound and production backline” expenses for items not otherwise covered.
Production teams “have to bring in some things that aren’t included in the contract,” Wyatt said. “They bill us separately for that.”
Jackson told his fellow commissioners he’d talked to some of the booking agents and, though large, the county could probably rely on similar expenses in the future.
“Visiting with booking agents I have been assured that if we went with Option 3 (at $2.5 million) this would be a sustainable entertainment budget for the foreseeable future,” Jackson said. “We can afford this (and) we need to continue to treat the people of the area — not just Lea County — to this opportunity.”
Commissioner Pat Sims, though, said he’d lost some sleep worrying about the size of the entertainment budget and concerns about revenue to cover some of the costs. Also a past member of the Lea County Fair Board, Sims said during his tenure he’d “fought tooth-and-nail, and got down-right mad, saying I wanted to increase gate fees.
“Dean (Jackson) keeps saying we can afford this,” Sims said. “But should we afford it? Spending this kind of money on something like this, I take that very seriously.”
According to information presented to the commission by Wyatt and his staff, the entertainment budget is more than $1.1 million greater than the non-entertainment operating budget of the entire fair. That amounts to an overall obligation from the county’s general fund of more than $3.8 million.
“If we didn’t have any revenue coming in, this would be the final cost to the county,” Finance Director Chip Low told commissioners.
He said he expects the total would be partially offset by $1.3 million in anticipated revenue that wasn’t included in the data presented Tuesday. That would put the actual amount that would have to come out of the county’s general fund closer to the $2.5 million range.
Jackson maintained his conviction the massive entertainment budget was something the county needed to do for residents. He said, in part, the annual fair is the envy of other counties around the state based on interaction with others at state-wide county organization meetings including as a board member of the group, New Mexico Counties.
“All over the state … I get questions about how we do this,” Jackson said. “Well, we’re very lucky. We have oil and gas” revenue.
“If oil went to negative-$64 (a barrel) tomorrow would we have to change this? Yes. But we are in a unique position to do this” right now.
Despite his reservations, Sims moved to accept the third optional entertainment budget, seconded by Commisioner Brad Weber. The proposal was adopted on a four-one vote, with chairman Gary Eidson desenting.
“I wanted to try to keep that budget no more than a 10 percent increase from last year,” Eidson said after the meeting. “I felt the number we actually voted on and aprpoved was a lot more than 10 percent.
“And each year after the fair, sometimes before the fair, I’ll get people commenting on how much we spend on the entertainment portion of the fair. You hear from your constituents. You need to take that into account too and keep the costs down.
Budget approval was the first step in the process, Wyatt said following the vote. Negotiations will now begin with performer representatives and booking agents to develop the entertainment lineup for the fair, set for Aug. 2 – 10 on the fairgrounds in Lovington.
Commissioners also approved a request from Fair and Rodeo Board Chairman Kris Allen to provide additional payout for winning rodeo contestants during the 2024 fair.
Right now, for rodeos held around the country in the month of August, the Lea County Rodeo ranks fourth in terms of payout, Allen said. Of all rodeos during the “summer circuit,” Lea County ranks sixth.
The Lea County Rodeo “pays out” on 10 events, Allen said. He asked commissioners to increase that payout by $10,000 per event, for a total additional $100,000 in prize money available. He hopes the additional money will serve to attract more competitors to Lea County each August.
Sometimes, competitors will sign up for the Lea County Rodeo only to divert to a rodeo that’s closer that pays as much or more money for the winners, Allen said. He hopes bumping the “purse” will address the issue of people backing out at the last minute.
“The key thing is we’re challenged (by other rodeos) to draw contestants this far south,” Allen said. “The big thing is Cheyenne (Frontier Days in Wyoming) is just before our rodeo.
“Everybody is in Cheyenne that week. All the (rodeos) we compete with are right there. Rather than go south (competitors) go east and west” to closer events.
