Nyack, July 22 — The Village Board got an earful from Nyack’s merchants last night in response to increased fees for street fair vendors. The fee for “Hawking and Peddling” licenses was raised from $10 to $25 per vendor on June 10. This cost is included in the fee vendors pay to participate in Nyack’s street fairs, typically ranging from $125 to $300 per booth.
Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and ACADA, the Arts, Crafts and Antique Dealer’s Association, expressed strong disapproval for the new regulations at the July 22 Village Board meeting, saying that steep fees would discourage vendors from participating in future street fairs. The ACADA also cited increased costs for running the street fairs including charges for public works, parking and police.
“The increase in fees will hurt all of the vendors, especially vendors not associated with the Arts Crafts and Antiques Dealers Association of Nyack,” says John Dunnigan, President of the ACADA. “Increasing fees would actually hurt our main goal, which is to advertise and promote Nyack as a destination for commerce and tourism in the Hudson Valley.”
The Village Board increased the fee in June to try to close a budget gap brought on by the recession. “Nyack’s former $10 fee for street-fair vendors was on the books for many years but was never enforced,” says Nyack Mayor Richard Kavesh. “The Village Board began discussing a new rate of $25 several months ago, we opened the process up for public comment, and we didn’t receive one negative comment. We implemented the new rate to help offset some of the very significant DPW, Parking Authority, and police overtime that these fairs cost village taxpayers.”
Kavesh says he doesn’t think the increase, which translates into about $2 an hour per vendor, will discourage vendors from participating in future fairs. “I know that all the vendors are getting their money’s worth from the clientele that Nyack attracts to these events, and I’m confident that visitors and vendors will keep coming back to our unique and beautiful village.”
In response to the complaints, Nyack’s Trustees will delay any new fees for 30 days to give the business community and the board time to further discuss the new fees.
It occurs to this writer what transpired last night at Village Hall was a “teachable moment” so to speak.
In this case the lesson is about outreach. While for the most part it is incumbent upon everyone to due diligence on issues in the Village, there too exists a responsibility on the part of our Village Board to reach out directly to certain key individuals or groups who have invested large amounts of time and effort. This is especially true on key issues or initiatives being considered that will effect, in this case, the street fairs.
We all tend to want to speak with the people we want to speak with and ignore others. I don’t think this is deliberate in this case but if you are considering raising a fee or other revenue such as this and you do not directly engage either the Chamber or ACADA then I’d suggest the process is flawed and needs to be reconsidered next time.
After-all, it’s sort of pointless to try and diffuse a bomb after it has already gone off.
JC
While I can appreciate the disapproval of such an increase and certainly the manner in which it tried to be implemented (step first, react later), I wonder what the typical fees are for other nearby villages that host street fairs? Are we in line currently? Was this just one of those “let’s raise fees” decisions without much thought? If we are not charging what we should and an increase is warranted, than so be it. But, on the other hand, if we were just throwing an increase out there, than it deserves some more thought for both the participants and the Village of Nyack, as we need to be thought of as a welcoming, friendly village to visit and to business with and within!