28-25 Amending the Historic Preservation Ticket Surcharge for the Morris Performing Arts Center

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Filed in Clerk's Office BILL NO. 28-25 Bianca Tirado City Clerk, South Bend, IN ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, AMENDING THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION TICKET SURCHARGE FOR THE MORRIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND INTENT The City of South Bend's("City")Morris Performing Arts Center(the"Morris")currently charges a Historic Preservation/Facility Fee of Three Dollars and Fifty Cents ($3.50)that is added onto the face value of each ticket sold at the Morris. The Morris also charges an Order Fee on each transaction of Five Dollars ($5.00), which represents an average cost of extra materials and processes for all ticket purchases, such as shipping, ticket stock, printing costs, stamps, and intangible operation costs. Recent regulations issued by the Federal Trade Commission governing the disclosure of fees at the time of ticket purchase have changed the way the City presents Morris ticket prices through its ticketing vendor to prospective purchasers. The City's ticketing vendor is not able to include the Order Fee into the Total Price, as required by the new regulations on or before May 12, 2025, as it is charged per transaction rather than per ticket. It remains unclear whether a disclaimer regarding the transaction fee on the City's ticketing website would allow the City to be in full compliance with the new regulations, as best practices are still developing. The most clear way to comply with the regulations is to include all fees per ticket in the Total Price. The City and Morris recognize the Order Fee is an important part of the revenue of the Morris, and desire to ensure that this revenue is able to be captured at the time of purchase while remaining in compliance with federal regulations. The proposed ordinance would shift the transaction fee into a small increase, in the amount of One Dollar and Twenty-Five Cents ($1.25), in the per ticket Historic Preservation/Facility Fee and eliminate the Order Fee.This increase reflects the average cost of extra materials and processes for all ticket purchases, such as shipping, ticket stock, printing costs, stamps, and intangible operation costs so that it may properly be disclosed at the time of purchase. This ordinance is in the best interest of the City and its residents. NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA as follows: SECTION I. The Historic Preservation/Facility ticket surcharge is hereby increased from Three Dollars and Fifty Cents ($3.50) to Four Dollars and Seventy-Five Cents ($4.75) and the 1