Stoneville council looks for ways to break even on annual July Fourth celebration

By Steve Lawson

Published: August 7, 2008

The Stoneville Town Council is thinking of ideas to keep future Fourth of July celebrations from losing money.
With the cost of fireworks and entertainment constantly rising, the town has failed to recoup expenses on the event since it began in 1995. Officials added an admission fee of $1 per person in 2005 to help cover costs, but still fell short.
A report supplied to council members by town administrator Kevin Baughn showed the town lost $1,088.36 at this year’s event, despite having more than 1,800 people attend.
“We discussed raising the admission to $2 this year, but decided to keep it the same,” Mayor Rex Tuggle said. “If we had gone to $2, we would have covered the cost or came out a little ahead.”
According to the report, this year’s celebration cost Stoneville $6,624.62. Deposits made to the July Fourth account, including funds from admissions, concessions and games, totaled $5,534.28.
Baughn believed the showers that hit the area July 4 led to some of the town’s losses.
“The rain kept a few people away, and the inflatables had to be shut down for about three hours because they couldn’t operate in the rain,” he said.
The town had slightly more than $1,900 in the July Fourth account at the start of 2008 and a balance of $827.58 as of Aug. 5.
Councilman James Scales said he did not want to stop holding the event but thought something should be done to stop the drain on town finances.
“We don’t need to keep going in the hole every year,” said Scales.
Tuggle reminded Scales and other council members that the town lost money for several years on the fall festival, but the Stoneville Rotary took over the event and turned it into a profitable fundraiser.
“Last year’s fall festival made more than $5,000,” said Tuggle. “It’s just a matter of getting everything properly organized.”
Baughn said having a nonprofit organization such as the Rotary or Ruritans handle the event would make it easier to get volunteers and donations.
“When the town puts on something like this, people expect the town to pay for it,” he said. “They think they pay taxes to the town, so everything should be taken care of.”
During a meeting Tuesday, Scales reminded the council that Madison and Mayodan once combined to put on a July Fourth celebration but decided to stop because of problems obtaining enough volunteers and financing.
“I’d personally hate to see us drop it,” Tuggle said. “It’s something we provide every year and it’s a time to celebrate our veterans and they appreciate it.”
The board decided to look at options for helping meet expenses at future July Fourth events, including increases in admission and assistance from local nonprofits.
In other business Tuesday, the council discussed progress on a new water contract with Mayodan. Baughn told board members Mayodan made some requested changes at the most recent of four meetings between officials from the two towns, but there were still issues to resolve.
“Biggest problem I have is that they want to tie us down to a 20-year contract,” Tuggle said. “It’s hard to get out from under a 20-year contract you can’t change. I don’t think they (Mayodan) would sign anything that would tie them down for 20 years.”
The proposed contract would commit Stoneville to be a “full-time customer” for Mayodan water for 20 years, without an option to withdraw from the contract or purchase water from another source. Board members felt there should be a way to give a notice of at least six months to get out of the contract, regardless of its length.
“We discussed that at the last meeting, but they didn’t make that change,” Baughn said.
The council requested Baughn and town attorney Travis Martin to come up with language acceptable to both towns allowing for shorter terms and an option to terminate the contract upon notice from either party.
“That would be an advantage to both you and Mayodan,” Martin said.
The board also discussed the possibility of changing town zoning ordinances to allow residential use of the upstairs portions of downtown businesses. Baughn was asked to check the ordinances of other municipalities, especially in regard to firewall and safety restrictions, and report back to the council at the next meeting.

News Editor Steve Lawson can be reached at or at 548-6047.