Plan to Tax Coachella Suspended

Rolling Stone – Fri, Jul 6, 2012 9:55 AM EDT

The Indio City councilman who proposed a ticket tax on the Coachella festival relented yesterday after threats of relocation, reports NBC Los Angeles. Council member Sam Torres had suggested a 5-10 percent admission tax on the festival, which was met with severe opposition from Goldenvoice, the concert promoters behind Coachella. Paul Tollett, president of Goldenvoice, threatened to cancel the 2014 festival and move the event away from the city in 2015.

Tollett claims the tax would cost Goldenvoice $4 to $6 million, with Coachella grossing $47 million this year, while a city press release called the company a "major regional employer" that has brought "millions of dollars of revenue to support the local community." Indio Mayor Glenn Miller, who previously opposed Torres' proposal, affirmed his commitment to keeping Coachella in Indio. Coachella began in Indio in 1999 and attracted over 158,000 attendees this year.

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