STURGIS, S.D. – Sturgis City Manager Daniel Ainslie provided the Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Financial Report at last night’s council meeting.
Ainslie says the net profit returned to the city this year was $1.1-million dollars.
Ainslie says vendor fees were also higher this year than in year’s past, and every year, more and more of what vendors pay is transferred to sanitation, one of the largest expenses of the Rally.
“So essentially, the sanitation was originally, back in 2014, it was set at $175 dollars. That is increased 3-percent every year and we had not increased the vendor fee since 2014, so in that time the amount of money that goes into the general fund continues to be eroded.”
He says they were able to increase donations to charity this year by $103,000 and new efforts are helping to aid in increasing revenue.
“What we are starting to see are new efforts in which we are able to expand our revenue. These are new things we started this year and that’s why we are starting to see some upside potential to the bottom line for the city. Those include official marks, website sales and open container cups. Those kinds of things that really encapsulate the additional upside that the Rally has for the city.”
Ainslie says the first year for the open container cup sales brought in $75,280.
“The vast majority of that came from our private partners who also sold cups.”
Sturgis Rally Charities receives 50-percent of the net proceeds from the open container cup sales up to $75,000. That is per the contract the city has with Sturgis Rally Charities, which was approved for the next three years last night.
Also under the proposed contract, the city will continue to transfer 5% of the gross sponsorship revenue funds to Sturgis Rally Charities. Those are funds actually received by the City, from the sponsorship promotional activities of the Rally.
Last night, the city handed out annual 2021 Rally Donation Checks to Sturgis Rally Charities and other non-profit organizations that receive money from the annual event.
