Manweller wants Gorge ticket fee

OLYMPIA - Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, said a bill he will propose to the state Legislature later this year would allow county commissioners to add a $1 fee to ticket prices at The Gorge Amphitheater.

He said the money raised would be split between the hospital and fire districts that serve that area.

Last year, concert and festival goers racked up more than $400,000 in unpaid bills to the Quincy Valley Medical Center, according to the center's staff.

"It is absolutely unfair to make the Quincy residents pay for the 40,000 kids that come from Seattle and get drunk, fall down and overdose on drugs," he said.

No more than 22,000 patrons will be allowed in any concert and no more than 27,500 patrons will be allowed to festivals, according to a 2014 concert management agreement between Live Nation and Grant County.

At an earlier meeting between QVMC staff, Live Nation and county commissioners, the company that owns and operates The Gorge Amphitheater, The Gorge General Manager Danny Wilde said a $1 increase to ticket prices would actually result to a tax on Live Nation, and would not be passed along to ticket buyers.

"He is 100 percent wrong about that," Manweller said. "The surcharge would be for the ticket buyer, not Live Nation and my bill would reimburse Live Nation for the administrative fees associated with collecting that money."

He said the bill would allow the county commission to impose the surcharge, not require it.

"All my bill does is give the county commissioner the option. It is a fall back position in case Live Nation and the county can't come to an agreement."

Manweller said he wants to make sure the hospital and fire district resources are available for Quincy residents.

"The nightmare scenario is if all of the ambulances are at The Gorge and somebody in Quincy has a heart attack and there they die because there isn't any ambulance service for them," Manweller said.

He said he doubts an extra dollar surcharge to ticket prices would deter anyone from attending concerts.

"I go to the Dave Matthews concert every year and the ticket is $56, If the ticket is $57, I'm not, not going to go," he said.

He plans to propose the legislation in October or November of this year, he said, for the legislative session that begins in January.

Wilde said The Gorge is increasing the number of medical personnel, including physicians licensed to give IVs, and will more prominently display free water at the venue for this year's events.