Lolla Could See Taxes

Cook County Commissioners in Illinois are requiring event organizers to appeal to the County Board to continue their tax breaks – which means Lollapalooza organizer C3 might have to throw some cash to the county.

C3 worked with Cook County to bring Lollapalooza to Chicago’s Grant Park in 2005. At the time, the expensive event needed cash flow to get off the ground But now an approved measure by Commissioner Bridget Gainer requires events that generate more than $150,000 in amusement tax revenue to ask the board to waive the county tax, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“I think we should see [Lollapalooza] as a success that no longer needs government support,” Gainer told the paper.
The August festival would have brought in about $350,000 in county amusement taxes in 2011, Gainer said.

The paper noted Lollapalooza has made an annual contribution to the Chicago Park’s District’s nonprofit Parkways Foundation, and Gainer was a member of the Parkways board when the agreement was reached. Gainer told the Tribune the idea was not for the tax break to remain in place long term.

The measure was approved 16-0. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, brother to William Morris Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel, said an independent panel should look into the city’s arrangements with C3.