Thursday, January 26, 2012

Cook County Looks Into Lollapalooza Tax Exemption

If you read Sloopin, you know that we love Lollapalooza. Regardless of our love affair, that doesn't mean that we turn a blind eye towards its operations. A reader recently sent us a link to a post by WBEZ blog, Pop N Stuff, examining some issues with the tax exemption the annual festival receives:
If the city won’t reexamine the boondoggle of a tax break that the Daley administration gave Lollapalooza, even in the midst of an epic budget crisis, the county will.

Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer says she has heard from many of her North Side constituents complaining about the negative impact on their businesses caused by Lollapalooza, and its tax break adds insult to injury. “No tax is paid or reported,” she says. “It’s absurd.”
Gainer goes onto say in the article:
“This wasn’t the way this [the Lollapalooza deal] was supposed to go down,” Gainer says. Initially, it was considered a break to bring a speculative venture to Chicago. But Lollapalooza now has proven to be very successful and hardly in need of a benefit that no other major entertainment event is granted.

"If you don't need that kind of support to survive, it should be given to someone else... some other cultural event," Gainer says. She and her fellow board members approached the state's attorney about how best to rectify the situation, and Anita Alvarez's office recommended bringing the annual review of the Lollapalooza tax abatement under board control.
Definitely agree that they should take a look at this deal and see if it's necessary.

Regardless, whether or not you're interested in the article/controvery, it gives us a chance to re-post a clip from last years lollapalooza of a band trying to learn how to play in front of a big crowd:



(Hat tip: JA!)
(Image from WBEZ)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...she has heard from many of her North Side constituents complaining about the negative impact on their businesses caused by Lollapalooza, and its tax break adds insult to injury."

Tax breaks aside and maybe I am missing something here but how does bringing tens of thousands out of towners (domestically and internationally) to the city negatively impact business?

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:41, I completely agree with you. Lollapalooza is a completely unique situation. And if Chicago is not willing to give them a sweet deal, then I'm sure they would be just fine taking their event, the millions the event generates for the city and its citizens, and the thousands of out of town patrons who would be staying at our hotels and move the event to a city that is more flexible. We don't need to chase this event out of Chicago.

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 10:40

I completely agree but unfortunately there are people that DO want to chase this event out of Chicago . i.e. South Loop Nimbys.

Utterly insane...

Marinauser said...

On the days and nights of the event, you could probalby find many of the northside clubs and bars pretty empty since their customers are likely to be at Lollapalooza. That means her constituents are losing money even if other hotels and places nearer the event make some money. Doesn't make it right or wrong, just doing what she was elected to do. I have no clue whether there are "tens of thousands" of "out of towners" or not? Most of those attending I suspect are from Chicago and the surrounding suburbs and while some come from farther away, that probably doesn't make up a significant portion of the people there. I have not seen it to be an issue in getting hotel rooms for business visitors during that time.

Anonymous said...

I say let them stay...on the condition they bring in some real talent, last few years the headliners have been pretty lame. They shoud take their cues from Coachella

Anonymous said...

I don't want to see Lolla get the boot, but I am for evaluating how much in subsidies this event gets every year. I'm sure there is a happy medium that can and should be attained here.

Anonymous said...

I like Lollapalooza. But that doesn't mean they should get a sweetheart deal from the city year after year. Hell, Rahm's brother is mixed up in these shenanigans... where's the usual outcry we see around here against Rahm?

Tax them, now. They're not going to go anywhere. They're making gigantic sums of money off our public parks, police and infrastructure.

Anonymous said...

Lollapalooza won't leave the city. Record number of attendees. Everyone will settle.

Anonymous said...

Yeah Lolla wont go anywhere just like the NRA show wont go anywhere and countless other conventions, Not to mention the dozens of corporations that wont leave...

We are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. Even if the attendance droppped moving to Cleveland, they would still save a ton on another city giving them a tax break. Taxes are everything for businesses and a tax break out-weights most other factors.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:38 is spot on.

What you idiots don't realize is that Lollapalooza is a business, and much like everything else in this great state---it will take its business elsewhere.

Many thanks to all those democrats you so roudly voted for are ruining the city...

Anonymous said...

You do realize that democrats have been running the city for a long, long period of time, right? Somehow now everything is bad? Just because someone's looking into taxing a business fairly?

Get a grip. Lollapalooza isn't going anywhere. It's a huge success, the park is a picture perfect location and Chicago is a major airline hub.

Josh said...

I think Bridget is doing the right thing, and I hope she looks at everything in sight that has been subject to loopholes and special treatment. Lolla wasn't close to the only one.

I doubt Lolla would complain about taxes unless they were truly outrageous, except the taxes probably are. Anyone ever tried renting a car in Chicago? Staying in a hotel? Ridiculous compared to almost anwywhere else!

Josh said...

By the way, where is that anal retentive guy named Jeff that used to cry about Lolla every week?

Anonymous said...

Cleveland pop. 396,815
Chicago pop. 2,695,598

It ain't going anywhere.

Settle: to fix, or resolve definitely and conclusively; agree upon (as time, price, or conditions).