“I would like it to be a break even,” the county highway superintendent and air show committee liaison said to county legislators Wednesday.
As promised last month, Hens returned to the hot seat and reported an estimated county expense for the event.
“Our best guess is around $12,705,” he said.
That total would be for county Sheriff’s Office deputies and Emergency Management Services staff to provide security, traffic and crowd control. The breakdown was estimated to be $5,400 for offsite traffic control; $2,055 for EMS presence; and $5,250 for pre-show preparations by highway and facilities maintenance staff.
Aside from whatever the show itself may take in from the admission price, Hens and the committee are hopeful that all of that traffic will eventually leave the airport on Saile Drive and go shopping, eating and/or taking in some local entertainment.
The county will also see increased sales tax because of the air show and related Wing Ding event held within the City of Batavia,” Hens said.
An estimated increase in sales tax proceeds during the three-day event would be from $20,000 to $40,000, he said.
“There actually would be no increased costs on our insurance policy, which was surprising to me,” he said. “We asked them to look at the airshow, there was a skydiving event as part of the history. And pyrotechnic fireworks are part of the event. There was no actual added costs, which was good news to hear.”
Ways & Means legislative members generally agreed to move forward with the event request, however, the approval of legislators Gary Maha and Chairwoman Shelley Stein included a caveat.
"So I would move this for approval in a second," Stein said. "At the same time, I don't want this to cost the county over that $40,000, you know, I would very much like it to break even with our sales tax because I think it's going to be a great opportunity to bring this back to Batavia.
“But I think, as Gary said, we just don't want to sign a blank check," she said. "I absolutely want to be supportive of this.”
Legislators emphasized that the county was not sponsoring this event, but lending its support via a resolution and the potential costs of labor mentioned above. Wings Over Batavia LLC is forming a non-profit entity and will be the group responsible for the air show.
The request will move on to the whole Genesee County Legislature for a vote later this month.
If given final approval, the air show is tentatively scheduled for mid-September 2023.
To view a prior Wings Over Batavia air show, check out this Youtube.com video made in 1997 by EFP Network. This was one year before the last air show took place.
Top Photo of Tim Hens from social media. 2022 File Photo of Genesee County Legislature Chairwoman Shelley Stein. Photo by Joanne Beck.
