Hamilton’s Farmers Market is the first City of Hamilton division to publicly announce its 2025 budget request.
The Market is seeking $378,268 from the municipal tax levy for 2025, up 14 percent from its 2024 allotment of $331,903.
Security, costs. and utility costs are significant factors driving the budget increase.
The Market plans to continue a rent freeze for its vendors, citing continued lower customer traffic since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. (The recent post-COVID record set on November 2 was still below regular pre-COVID customer visits.)
The Market expects to collect $508,236 in rent and $50,000 in utility recovery fees from vendors. The Market expects to collect $12,500 in temporary rental fees from pop-up vendors and sell $7,500 in merchandise (mugs and t-shirts).
Spending in 2025 includes $453,818 in salary and benefits, $30,000 on marketing and promotional activities, $35,000 for events, $25,000 for security services (provided by the Hamilton Library), and $35,000 to provide one-hour free parking for customers.
The budget will be presented to City Council in January.
Production Details v. 1.0.0 Published: November 17, 2024 Last updated: November 17, 2024 Author: Joey Coleman Update Record v. 1.0.0 original version