U.S. Open cost $2 million for security, $700,000 from county taxpayers

Three months after the last putt dropped at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, Pierce County leaders provided a preliminary look at how much it cost to host the largest sporting event in county history.

They’re saying they will break even at the very least, and may collect enough revenue to pay off some debt incurred after the links-style golf course was built eight years ago.

A big unknown heading into the weeklong golf championship was security costs, the event’s largest public expense.

County leaders estimated beforehand that the multifaceted security plan could cost around $2 million, including anticipated contributions from Washington State Patrol and other outside law enforcement agencies.

A large part of the projected expense was paying for an estimated 450 officers needed daily on and off the course.

That number turned out to be 500 to 600 officers a day once the event started and attendance grew beyond expectations.

Despite the need for more personnel, the county’s early cost estimate was accurate, Deputy County Executive Kevin Phelps said.

“Total public safety costs came in probably close at, or a little over, $2 million,” Phelps said last week.

Of that, county taxpayers will cover nearly $700,000.

County budget staff is still tallying final numbers from the U.S. Open, including the bottom line cost when non-security expenses are factored. Phelps said he didn’t know when the information would be finalized, but said it would be soon.

When the county was preparing for the U.S. Open, it dedicated $1 million in its parks budget for event-related expenses.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department will receive a majority of that amount, roughly $693,000, for costs it incurred implementing the security plan. Of that, $491,565 was spent on Sheriff’s Department overtime.

After the sheriff’s budget is repaid, the remainder of the $1 million will be plowed into other U.S. Open-related costs, including course improvements, Phelps said.

The county will use sales tax and other revenues it receives from the event to pay for expenditures tied to hosting the tournament. Once all bills are paid, any leftover funds will be used to pay down county debt, Phelps said.

“We know that at a minimum we will be able to break even for the event,” he said. “If there is some extra monies left over, we’ll just use that to pay down the loans to keep the golf course going.”

The county borrowed from its equipment rental and revolving fund to make debt payments on the course when expenses exceeded revenues. The course opened in 2007 and broke even in 2008. It then landed in the red each of the next four years, requiring the interfund transfers.

The course made money in 2013. The county repaid some debt that year and again in 2014.

Phelps hopes for a “more substantial” repayment in 2015 based on U.S. Open-related revenues.

While the overall security plan cost close to $2 million, the county’s share came in under estimates.

“Thanks to the support of all of our partner agencies — local, federal, state and military — we were able to keep the overall costs down to Pierce County,” sheriff’s Capt. Scott Mielcarek said.

Mielcarek helped craft the security plan and was the incident commander during the event.

The Legislature’s allocation of $750,000 to pay the Washington State Patrol to help with traffic control was a significant savings for the county, Mielcarek said.

Tacoma also offered its officers to help and didn’t bill the county. The city used $290,000 it budgeted for U.S. Open-related expenses.

Several other police agencies, however, charged for their services. The county paid $289,030 to 22 law enforcement agencies that sent officers to help, according to figures provided by Phelps.

Four months before the golf tournament, Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor sent a letter to law enforcement agencies across the state asking for help.

Trying to keep costs down, his request included a plea that departments pay for the first 40 hours of their officers’ time. After that, the letter said, the county would reimburse overtime wage costs up to a maximum of $72 an hour.

After a limited response, Pastor sent a second plea again agreeing to pay overtime costs. But this time he didn’t ask departments to cover the first 40 hours.

“The majority of agencies were not able to give us the first 40 hours free,” Mielcarek said. “But, there were some notable exceptions that helped quite a bit.”

The United States Golf Association paid $81,393 for additional security shifts it requested the week of the tournament.

“The crowds ended up being a little bigger than they had anticipated,” Phelps said. “As it got into the week, they felt additional coverage would be wise.”

Initial estimates were that 235,000 people would visit Chambers Bay over the course of the championship. That number was closer to 290,000 people, Phelps said, after volunteers, vendors and other spectators with weekly passes showed up more often than expected.

The Pierce County Council is still waiting for a formal report on how the county fared financially during the U.S. Open.

The News Tribune provided County Council Chairman Dan Roach with a preliminary breakdown of the Sheriff’s Department expenses. He said he was pleased to see security costs for local taxpayers come in under $1 million.

Now Roach wants to see the big-picture expenditures.

“Let’s look at the whole project and factor everything in and see where the expenses were, where the revenues came from and at the end of the day, how do we fare?” he said.

Roach and other Republicans on the council have called for the county to thoroughly study the management and financial outlook at Chambers Bay before agreeing to host another U.S. Open.

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 9:00 AM with the headline "U.S. Open cost $2 million for security, $700,000 from county taxpayers."