I’ve been in Vernon this week, talking with event organizers facing what many are calling a financial gut punch after city officials approved significant increases to community facility rental fees. The changes, which came into effect earlier this month, have left numerous local events scrambling to adjust their budgets mid-season.
“We’ve been running this community festival for eleven years, and suddenly our venue costs jumped by nearly 40 percent with barely any notice,” says Marjorie Willson, director of the Vernon Summer Arts Festival, as we walk through Polson Park where her organization hosts free concerts. “For a non-profit like ours, that’s not a minor adjustment—it’s potentially devastating.”
The fee increases apply to most city-owned facilities, including the Vernon Recreation Centre, Kal Tire Place, and various community halls. According to documents from Vernon City Council, the new structure aims to recover more operational costs while bringing rates “in line with comparable municipalities.” However, many organizers question both the timing and the scale of the changes.
City councillor Brian Thompson defended the increases during last month’s council meeting, noting that facility maintenance costs have risen dramatically. “We’ve been subsidizing these venues at an unsustainable rate,” Thompson explained when I caught up with him at City Hall yesterday. “The unfortunate reality is that taxpayers can’t continue covering these growing operational deficits.”
But for smaller community events, the math simply isn’t working. The Vernon Winter Carnival, a cornerstone community celebration for over sixty years, may need to cancel two of its planned activities for next February. “We’ve already printed promotional materials and secured sponsors based on our original budget,” says carnival coordinator Jennifer Marsh. “These mid-year increases weren’t something we could possibly have planned for.”
What’s particularly challenging for organizers is the short notice. Council approved the increases in April, with implementation beginning in May—giving many summer event planners little time to adjust their already-finalized budgets.
Local business owner and long-time event sponsor Mark Reiswig has concerns beyond just the immediate financial impact. “These community events bring thousands of visitors downtown. My café sees a 60 percent increase in business during festival weekends,” he tells me while preparing coffee at his Main Street location. “If events scale back or disappear, we all lose.”
Vernon’s Chamber of Commerce has collected data suggesting that major community events generate approximately $3.2 million in local economic activity annually, supporting small businesses throughout the downtown core and beyond.
The increases vary by facility and usage type, but most fall between 15 and 45 percent. Sports tournaments using Kal Tire Place now pay $195 per hour during prime time, up from $135 last year. Community halls that previously rented for $55 per hour now cost $75 for the same timeframe.
When pressed about the short implementation timeline, Mayor Victor Cumming acknowledged the concerns but stood by the decision. “We recognize this creates challenges for some organizations, and we’re committed to working with them through this transition,” he said during our phone conversation this morning. “But we also have a responsibility to maintain fiscal balance.”
Several event organizers have formed an informal coalition to petition council for a phased implementation approach. Their proposal, which will be presented at next week’s council meeting, suggests spreading the increases over three years to allow organizations time to adjust fundraising strategies or ticket prices.
For some events, however, even that may not be enough. The Vernon Heritage Festival, which has celebrated the region’s cultural diversity for nine years, announced yesterday it would cancel this year’s event entirely.
“We operate on incredibly thin margins to keep this accessible to everyone,” explains festival director Amar Singh. “Between inflation already driving up our other costs and now these venue increases, the math just doesn’t work anymore.”
City staff have pointed to grant programs available to community organizations, but event planners note that these funds are already highly competitive and typically cannot be used for basic operational costs like venue rentals.
At Polson Park, I watch as Willson measures out a smaller performance area than in previous years—one adjustment her festival is making to reduce costs. “We’ll have fewer tents, fewer performers, and probably fewer visitors as a result,” she says, checking measurements against her notebook. “But we’re determined to keep this going somehow.”
As Vernon’s summer event season begins, the true impact of these increases remains to be seen. What’s clear is that the balance between municipal cost recovery and community vitality has become increasingly difficult to maintain, especially in smaller cities where cultural events often operate with minimal financial cushion.
“People don’t realize how much these events run on volunteer hours and community goodwill,” Willson adds as we finish our walk through the park. “The financial margins were already razor-thin before these increases. Now we’re having to make some really painful choices about what our community can afford to celebrate.”
