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Report Spells Out Financial Impact Of Del Mar Fairgrounds

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published May 16, 2016 at 3:40 AM PDT

This story was published more than 7 years ago.

A new report details the financial costs and benefits of the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Del Mar and Solana Beach.

A new report details the financial costs and benefits of the Del Mar Fairgrounds on the surrounding Del Mar and Solana Beach neighborhoods.

Ever since the cities of Solana Beach and Del Mar sued over plans to expand the Del Mar Fairgrounds, there have been questions about exactly how much the busy fairgrounds cost the cities, compared to the financial benefits.

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The cities agreed last year to contribute $30,000 each for a study — and now the results are in.

For the tiny city of Del Mar — population 4,161 — estimated annual revenues are about $1 million a year higher than expenses.

The city spends an estimated $340,000 on fire and sheriff services, plus public works. It earns $1,375,000, mostly from sales tax and transient occupancy taxes, but also revenues from off-track betting.

Solana Beach, which hosts a smaller area of the fairgrounds, has a net gain of about $200,000 a year. The city spends about $102,000 and earns $312,000 back, mostly in transient occupancy taxes.

The staff report said some costs are not quantified in the study: for example, “quality of life” issues like crowds, noise and traffic.

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The fairgrounds draw about 3 million people a year to 350 events.

The Solana Beach and Del Mar city councils are due to review the report later this month.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.