The number of fireworks booth permits issued to non-profits in Manteca will stay at 14 — for now.
But there was an indication the City Council might whittle that down to as low as 10 in 2027.
The decision to stay the course for now came Tuesday after several council members lambasted Phantom Fireworks as well as TNT Fireworks for taking as much as $1 million a year out of the community while placing all the booth and location rental costs on non-profits.
Under current practices, each dollar the non-profits take in is split 50-50 with fireworks vendors.
The vendors provide the product and deliver it, and nothing else.
Non-profits provide what Councilman Mike Morowit called “free labor” as well as covering the cost of renting the booth, ground rental, insurance and permitting fees the city charges to recover the cost of inspecting booths and issuing permits.
Several council members indicated that cuts the net for non-profits down to 30 to 40 percent.
And in the case of non-profits that don’t beat the competition to secure what have been historically premium sites for sales, it can significantly reduce income for a week’s worth of volunteer effort.
It is why Councilman Charlie Halford and others said they were leaning toward reducing the number of booths permits allowed year to 10.
The current ordinance caps the number of non-profit booths at one per 5,000 residents. In Manteca’s case that would translate to 18 booths that the city could allow.
Next year is when the council directed a $35 application fee for the booth lottery be imposed.
They did up the actual permit fee for this year from $150 to $250 per booth to try and recover costs incurred by the fire department inspecting booths.
There was interest expressed by council members to follow Lodi’s lead an assess a charge on projected sales to go toward the cost recovery of task force teams that city deploys to combat illegal fireworks.
The rationale is by a city allowing legal fireworks they inadvertently provide cover for more egregious use of illegal fireworks.
The Lodi fee is 7 percent of all sales.
If that rate was applied to Manteca based on $1 million in overall gross sales, it would generate $70,000.
But instead of assessing it on the non-profit operators, council members want to find a way to shift it to the two fireworks vendors which is apparently not legal to do in California according to the city attorney.
Last year, Manteca’s task force effort as well as the need for an extra engine company for 72 hours due to a surge in fires caused by fireworks, cost the city $85,385 in overtime staffing.
TNT Fireworks did offer to provide a signage campaign on behalf of the Manteca Fire Department to promote the use of Safe and Sane Fireworks that they sell and to deter the use of illegal fireworks in the City of Manteca.
Phantom Fireworks offered to provide two complimentary show packages to the City of Manteca that could be used for a small-scale display connected with a community event.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
