Parade Fees Will Help Milan Cover Public Safety, Public Works Costs

Parades are no longer free in Milan City – and organizers are starting to feel the cost.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, a new city policy imposes fees ranging from $0 to $800 for parade permits.

The fees are part of a broader special event policy approved by the city council last year. In addition to parade costs, organizers of other events now face charges from $25 to more than $3,000, depending on the level of city services required.

Events classified as Level 3 or higher must also carry insurance.

City Costs:

City Manager Jim Lancaster said fees offset rising city costs and could help prevent officer burnout as the number of events has continued to grow. 

The city has had to start paying its full-time police officers to staff parades, requiring overtime rates of $70 an hour. They spent $15,000 in police overtime for special events last year. Previously, Lancaster said, the city had 6-7 reserve officers who were willing to manage events inexpensively and now they only have 2-3. Amidst a national policing shortage they now struggle just to get enough regular officers.

“We’re having to tell officers they can’t take vacation from March to September,” Lancaster said. “It’s like anything else …. All these special events are great, but they come with a cost.

Lancaster said the fees are also a way to encourage organizations to determine whether they can reduce the load on the city – perhaps by combining parades or shortening routes. The city has created one free parade route, which runs along a pathway in Wilson Park, requiring no police oversight, though no organization has shown interest so far. Lancaster noted that in some stretches of the summer Milan has several parades over a matter of weeks.

Mayor Ed Kolar said surrounding communities already charged fees for parades and events and the city did extensive research to keep Milan’s prices on the low end.

Parade Costs:

This year the baseball parade down part of Main Street to the ball fields cost organizers $200.

The organizer of the Pride parade was quoted $500, plus insurance costs, for the parade and event, but decided to shorten the route to save costs.

“The cost of [the parade] was a lot for a grassroots-type event,” Parade Organizer and candidate for Mayor, Laura Russeau said during the May 6 City Council meeting. “I hope it doesn’t prohibit it from happening in the future.”

Later, Russeau said American 1 Credit Union stepped up to sponsor the $275 adjusted event cost and Moving Milan Forward agreed to help with insurance.

The Memorial Day Parade was initially going to cost the American Legion $600.

“To be charged for that would be really distasteful,” said Post 268 Commander Angie Jaworski. “Honestly, I don’t think any American Legion should have to pay for a parade. It’s a patriotic holiday. This is for the community, for the city, not just for the Legion.”

At the May 20 city council meeting the mayor and council members agreed. The mayor proposed the city co-sponsor the event to waive the cost.

“Up until now these kinds of events have been private events,” City Attorney Steve Mann said, advising the city that they can’t legally change their policy for just one organization. Mann said they would have to have a formal agreement and insurance, something they could look into for next year.

For this year, the mayor and council said they would help find sponsors or pay the costs of the Memorial Day parade out of their own pockets. Councilman David Snyder said they encourage other organizers to find sponsors for their events as well.

Event costs:

In addition to the cost of parades, the fees have also increased to rent out public spaces for city events.

Matthew Belford, President of the Milan Fair Board, said it will cost the fair at least $4,000 to rent the fairgrounds this year, which is on top of the extra they’ll have to pay to re-locate trailers to a new location. Previously, he said, the city did not charge them to have the fair at Wilson Park, but the fair board fixed any damage to the park and often put in additional improvements, as well, at their own expense. In addition, depending on how well the fair did they would make a donation to the city parks & rec department and the police reserve, though it was far less than $4,000.

The fair board receives 25 percent of the earnings from the fair, Belford said. That pays for fireworks, which in 2021 cost $15,000. This year to provide the same show as previous years will cost around $30,000, Belford said, noting increasing costs make it more difficult to offer the show.

“All the fair board members are volunteer,” Belford said. “We don’t get paid for any of this. All profits made go directly into the next year’s event. Most of our budget goes for the fireworks.”

Parks and Rec Director Jill Tewsley said they have a special agreement to discount fees if the fair does poorly due to bad weather. Lancaster said the fair costs the city $8,000-$10,000 every year in staffing, between police officers and public works staff.

The Cruisers car show is very low impact on the city, Tewsley said, and so their charge is $100 for the season, though this year it’s $75 because they got their application in last year before the new ordinance went into effect, which meant there was no application fee. 

City Councilman Josh Kofflin said that it cost $350 to reserve the space at Wilson Park for his Earth Day event, which was more than he expected. Fortunately, he said, he was able to find sponsors, including the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, American One Credit Union, and Azalia Solar.

Relay for Life organizers will pay $500 for the space for the 24-hour event at Wilson Park. 

Moving Milan Forward is now required to pay $100 to the city for each block party they offer on city property. Zach Errer, Moving Milan Forward president said they obtained permission to use the clubhouse at Uptown Village for their first party in June to avoid the fee, and will hold family-friendly community block parties the 2^ndSaturday of each month at Sheats Family Produce Stand, which is private property, which avoids fees. However, they are willing to pay the cost to continue block parties.

Lancaster said the alternative to the fees is increasing taxes, but the city prefers to have those who put on the event and enjoy the event pay, rather than all taxpayers.

“We’re not adding fees just to add fees,” Lancaster said. “There’s a certain reason there are fees for certain things. I can promise you we are not profiting from these events.”

A chance for feedback:

The City of Milan is still asking for public feedback through its Master Plan Survey through May 31. The survey asks questions related to city growth, recreation, millages, transportation, housing and activities for youth. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. To participate visit the survey link online: https://4eyes.io/s/1LW9H/ Printed copies of the survey are available at Milan City Hall.