Bluesfest, city spar over pitch to roll OC Transpo costs into ticket prices

Tickets to Bluesfestcould rise and the festival's local music contingentcould shrinkif the city goes ahead with a plan to roll the cost of supplying extra transit to major events into ticket prices, its executive director is warning.

Mark Monahan, who heads upboth Ottawa Bluesfest and CityFolk, told the city's transit commission Thursday morning he was "blindsided" by the city'splan, which emerged after the 2016 draft budget was tabled earlier this fall.

"We are obviously encouraging a lot of people to use public transit," Monahan told reporters afterwards.

"It's one of the things we tout when we go outside the city. So it's really unfortunate they're coming back now and saying, well, because of that success, we want you to pay."

OC Transpo general manager John Manconi said in Novemberhe saw "new ways" to generate revenue by having transit costs included in ticket prices for events like Bluesfest.

The city has a bylaw that allows OC Transpoto recoup the costs associated with providing extratransit service to special events like Bluesfest, and Manconi said in November that they would be implementing that bylaw.

It's a levy that'salready to applied to tickets for Ottawa Redblacks games, which raises the ticket price by about four dollars per game.

Manconihas suggested that applying the bylaw toBluesfestspecificallycould generate about $200,000 annually for city coffers.

But Monahansaid Thursday that such a movecould lead to cuts to community initiatives like the Blues in the Schools program,which deploys musicians to teach their craft in Ottawa classrooms.

The festival'sapproximately $85,000 budget for local artists could also be at risk, he said.

"These are all things that don't necessarily generate revenue for us," said Monahan. "And I think that's one of the things organizations look at when they start to look at cutting."

One other possibility could involve passing the levy along tofestival patronsdirectly through a"quite significant" five per cent increase to the cost of a ticket, Monahan added.

Bluesfest sent an email surveyto festivalpassholders after the proposed changes were made public, said Monahan. He saidabout 40 per cent of respondents replied that they used mass transit to attend the annual two-week festival.

Other major festivals like Coachelladon't have transit levies forced upon them, Monahan told the commission Thursday.

Tierney surprised as well

Monahan wasn't the only person surprised by OC Transpo'sdecision to enforce the levy, however. So was Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney, who sits on the transit commission.

Tierney told Monahan that he would hopefully be able to get a meeting with Manconi and Mayor Jim Watson ahead of Dec. 9, when the full city budget goes to council for approval.

"I think that [this issue]will probably get resolved before then," Tierney said.