University Place reports profit from U.S. Open

The city of University Place is the latest local government to report a financial gain from the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

The city netted close to $935,000 in revenues tied to being the host city of the golf championship held in June at the county-owned golf course, according to figures provided by the city.

The majority of its gain came from a 5 percent admission tax the city collected on ticket sales. The admission tax generated just over $1 million for the city of 35,000 people, the city said.

The tax has been on the city’s books since 1999 and applies to any business or event that charges admission for profit, said Leslie Blaisdell, UP deputy finance director.

The city also received almost $194,000 in sales tax revenue, $25,000 from its event permit fee and $7,500 in rent from a private security firm.

After subtracting expenses tied to the event, including staff time, security costs and beautification efforts, the city came out on top to the tune of $934,713, according to city figures.

The money will go to the city’s $10.6 million general fund, which pays for day-to-day operations and subsidizes other departments such as parks and the road fund.

“This amount of revenue was anticipated for several years in developing our budget, so it's not a windfall by any means,” said Eric Faison, UP finance director and assistant city manager for administrative services.

“Windfall” was a term thrown around last year in an a flurry of email exchanges between Pierce County Deputy Executive Kevin Phelps and UP City Attorney Steve Victor about who stood to profit most from the golf event.

Victor estimated the county would bring in as much as $4 million from the U.S. Open. Phelps countered that UP could be the government with the largest return, after the county subtracted costs associated with putting on the event.

Pierce County announced last week it received $1.1 million in net revenue from the event.

“I think that you can clearly see, now that the totals are in, that it was a very successful event financially for the region as a whole,” Victor said Friday.

Last year’s tense exchanges between county and city leaders are long forgotten, Victor said.

“We would all be well served in government to join together and try to make it attractive for (the USGA and the U.S. Open) to come back,” he said.

The city of Lakewood also previously reported financial gains from the week-long golf championship.

The UP City Council will receive a report on the revenues at its meeting Monday evening (Nov. 16).

The U.S. Open was the largest professional sporting event ever held in Pierce County, and by far the largest event ever held in UP.

City expenses included $146,918 in staff-related costs over a two-year period. That includes travel costs to the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, North Carolina.

The second-highest expense was beautification efforts. The city spent $61,242 to add banners to its main streets and clean up entrances to the city. The banners were purchased in time for the golf championship, but are also meant to celebrate UP’s 20th anniversary this year.

The city also incurred an expense of $50,000 to help Pierce County with security costs.

In exchange, UP asked that the county ensure there would be minimal impacts to residents living near the golf course. That included having enough security personnel at gated checkpoints to move residents in and out quickly, UP Police Chief Mike Blair said.

UP officials also set aside $50,000 they anticipated needing for other police and public works expenses around the city, but only ended up using $12,223.

“It was so quiet here, I was canceling shifts,” Blair said.

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 9:00 AM with the headline "University Place reports profit from U.S. Open."