Financially strapped county fair trims racing

The Sonoma County Fair is abandoning its experiment with a third week of horse racing as part of a plan to dig itself out of a financial hole made deeper by three consecutive years of losses.

Fair administrators said they expect to lose about $378,000 this year, a loss that comes on top of about $296,000 in 2007 and $54,000 in 2006.

Tawny Tesconi, appointed fair manager in September, said she would present a detailed plan designed to return the fair to profitability in 2011 to the Board of Supervisors this spring.

Other changes are in the works, including efforts to:

Bring the Scottish Games back to Sonoma County. The event, sponsored by San Francisco's Caledonian Club, left for the Alameda County fairgrounds in 1994.

Attract more recreational vehicles into an RV park at the fairgrounds. Tesconi said fair officials have been surprised at its success in drawing people in need of short-term, inexpensive housing.

Rely less on revenue from vehicle, home and boat shows. She said the shows have been hurt by the economic downturn and high fuel prices.

"We are working on ways to provide more stable financial footing," Tesconi said, adding that fair officials are reviewing potential cost cuts and that a hiring freeze has been imposed.

Since 2006, the fair has coped with declining attendance, soaring expenses and flat revenue by dipping into reserves, which are projected to sink from $5.9 million in 2005 to $3.7 million in 2008.

Hosting three -- instead of two -- weeks of horse racing last summer did not turn out to be the financial boon administrators expected.

According to the fair's financial summaries, horse racing in 2007 brought in about $2.3 million, much less than the $3.2 million that was predicted when the idea of the third week was proposed.

The third week of horse racing was introduced by then-Fair Manager Corey Oakley, who abruptly resigned about three months before the fair, after a dispute with fair directors. The fair was able to pick up an extra week on the horse racing circuit from Solano County.

Tesconi said the arrangement with Solano County did result in a small profit, but the fair board decided the effort "was not worth the insubstantial increase in profit."

"It really wasn't a financial decision as much as it was a logistical decision," she said Monday. "We want to enhance the two weeks of racing we've always provided for Sonoma County.

The county fairgrounds are supervised by a 15-member board of directors with members appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Most of the fairground's $10 million in annual revenue is racked up during the summer festival that packs entertainment, a carnival, a flower show and agricultural events into a two-week run.

The 2007 operation of the fairgrounds was especially expensive, costing $10.8 million when administrators initially forecast operating expenses would be about $9.7 million.

Fair officials attributed higher operating costs to rising costs for employee salaries and benefits, declining revenue and spikes in prices of goods and services the fair buys.

"It is clear by looking at the numbers that we are in a financial fork in the road," County Administrator Bob Deis said.

Fair officials said the fairgrounds again would host a Fourth of July celebration this year and they expected to see an increase in revenue from the RV park, alcohol concessions at events other than the fair, and their nine-hole golf course. The Snoopy characters exhibit will not return this year, they said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.