Calif. County Fairs Set Up Nonprofits as State Aid Withers

County fairs in California are increasingly establishing nonprofit fund-raising arms as the state government withdraws subsidies for the events, says The Modesto Bee.

Sacramento has paid a portion of the fairs’ costs since 1937, using taxes on gambling events, but it recently redirected that revenue into the state’s general fund, except for fairs that still hold horse racing.

State officials are in the process of deciding whether it will continue to own county fairgrounds or will donate or sell the property to fair boards.

In the meantime, fairs in Calaveras, Merced, Stanislaus, and other counties have already begun to prepare for the transition by setting up fund-raising foundations to make up for lost state money.

“It’s going to sting, but it’s not going to kill us,” Chris Borovansky, chief executive of the Stanislaus County Fair, said of the state cuts. “We saw the writing on the wall. We began putting together a 501(c)3 a few years ago.”