The annual Best of the Best Rodeo looked a little different this year, and the pandemic definitely had an impact on the event’s revenue.
During the Nov. 9 Gallup City Council meeting, Assistant City Manager Jon DeYoung went over the final numbers of how much money the 2021 event brought in and how much money was lost.
“This past year and a half has been tough and putting on events has been extremely hard; but Walt Eddy was successful, I think, in putting on the Best of the Best for us this year,” DeYoung commented.
He explained that over $212,000 was made in revenue, but over $229,000 was spent creating a loss of about $17,000. He said the money comes from the city’s general fund.
Councilor Yogash Kumar, Dist. 3, said he didn’t see the amount as that much of a loss.
“That’s not much of a loss to put on a show during what we had to go through [this past year],” Kumar said.
Mayor Louis Bonaguidi expressed his enjoyment of this year’s event, despite the changes.
“I think it was very successful,” Bonaguidi stated. “I went out there two or three times and the people out there really enjoyed the facility; they enjoyed the rodeo.”
Walt Eddy, the event’s promoter, told the council that part of the reason the event didn’t bring in as much money as expected was because they were missing about 150 horse stalls and nearly 100 campsites. People just didn’t show up as much as they have in the past.
After DeYoung presented the numbers for 2021, he turned to the plans for next year’s event. He said the 2022 Best of the Best would be held from June 22 to June 25. He explained that the city is hoping that going back to the original June dates will bring in more contestants, which will, in turn, bring in more revenue.
In his presentation, DeYoung said that the city anticipates a revenue of almost $365,000 for next year’s rodeo and expects the total expenses to come to about $336,000.
OTHER BUDGET CONCERNS
Money was the main topic during the city council meeting. Animal Control and the Octavia Fellin Public Library’s budgets were a part of the consent agenda.
The Planning and Development Department requested a budget adjustment of $9,000 to cover overtime costs that occur when Animal Control provides after-hours on-call services. Animal Control is usually budgeted $18,000 for this overtime, but that number was cut in half due to COVID-19.
Of that $9,000, only a little over $3,000 is left, which will not carry Animal Control through the rest of the fiscal year. The city requested an additional $9,000, and the council approved the amount.
The city also requested another $4,000 to purchase a new animal control vehicle. The city initially estimated that a new vehicle would cost $70,000, but it was soon realized that a larger truck would be needed and that the correct size would cost an additional $4,000.
In total, the council approved a budget adjustment of $13,000 for Animal Control.
The Octavia Fellin Public Library has recently received two grants. The city council approved the acceptance of both.
The first grant is from the American Library Association for the NASA @ Your Library program. The program presents astronomy and its related fields in accessible and attainable ways and shows local youth, especially indigenous youth, potential career paths.
The $16,000 will be used to purchase a telescope for the library and supplies for related STEAM activities, among other things.
The other grant is from the State of New Mexico’s Department of Cultural Affairs. It is supposed to support the library’s collections, staff salaries and training and equipment. The total amount of that grant is almost $14,600.
The council approved the acceptance of both of the grants.
By Molly Ann Howell
Sun Correspondent
