The Desert Sun, via LA Weekly, is reporting some disturbing news regarding Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, two big events for Indio and the Coachella Valley. Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett is threatening to move both festivals out of the valley, if a proposed admissions tax is enacted by the city!
Tollett declared to the newspaper:
‘If the tax initiative of putting $4million to $6 million onto Coachella gets on the ballot, we're going to take off 2014; 2015 we'll be at a new facility outside of Indio.’
A proposed measure for 2014 would impose a 5% to 10% tax on admissions to events that bring more than 2,500 people, and for Coachella, the tax would be about $36 per ticket according to Tollett.Goldenvoice already added $2.33 to each ticket to help the city with its financial crisis, but this jump to $36 would be outrageous! And with no increase in the ticket price, promoters would lose $4 to $6 million!
Tollett is judging the tax really unfair after ‘all the things we’ve done with Indio’, as the festival generates lots of revenues for the city. However promoters have already sort of decided to move out as they have been looking into purchasing property, like the El Dorado Polo Club in La Quinta in Riverside County.
Tollett added:
‘We've spent money on options for new venues. I regret that, but I had to. There's too much uncertainty. In any other place, this festival would have had a long-term deal. We have it with the venues. With the city, it's been this year-to-year thing.’
The first Coachella festival was in 1999, and promoters lost $800,000 at the time, but they have grown so much over the years that they are now making millions. Indio is making a big mistake with this tax, they should think about all these people bringing money, sleeping in hotels and buying truck food!
But this is not the end of Coachella, it will probably move, because promoters don’t want to lose so much money, but as long as it stays in Southern California, people will be fine.