ORANGE : Street Fair to Use Scrip Instead of Cash

The Orange International Street Fair is moving ahead with plans to substitute scrip for cash at fair vending stands this year, despite threats by some long-term participants that they will pull out of the event.

Event organizers say scrip will make the fair, which attracted about 300,000 visitors last Labor Day weekend, more professional and efficient.

“Like it or not, (the fair has) grown beyond the mom-and-pop stage where we have to be more responsible,” said Russell Barrios, a vice president of the nonprofit street fair organization. “It’s what our sponsors and the city expect of us.”

Under the new policy, customers would buy scrip, a substitute form of currency that is non-negotiable elsewhere, to purchase beer, food and crafts from street fair vendors. Fair officials say the use of scrip will help organizers compile a firm record of attendance and profits, information necessary to attract corporate sponsors to the event.

Recording the amount of scrip used will also help guarantee that the city receives appropriate sales tax revenue from the event, Barrios said.

“Vendors are supposed to file for a permit to pay sales tax to the state franchise tax board, then a share goes back to city,” Barrios said. However, he added, the fair has had no effective system to track that information.

Some fair participants have complained that scrip will be inconvenient and claim the street fair is trying to make money from nonprofit groups. The Anaheim-based Phoenix Club and Orange’s American Legion have vowed not to participate in the fair this year if the scrip system is adopted.

“All the money we make goes back into our nonprofit, and it’s none of their business how much we make,” said Paul Gunnemann, president of the Phoenix Club. “I don’t think the street fair should be a collecting committee for the Board of Equalization for the sales tax. Their next step will be that they will see you are bringing in $20,000 and say: ‘We want 5% of your gross.’ ”

Anna Marie Pischel, the city’s special events coordinator and street fair liaison, said the fair committee is investigating the cost of preparing three denominations of scrip--50 cents, $1 and $5. The fair is seeking a sponsor to cover the cost of creating the scrip.

Some vendors have said they will bring complaints about the fair to the City Council, but Pischel said it is unlikely council members would order the street fair to reverse its plans.

If vendors don’t like the new rules, “they just won’t be part of the fair,” Pischel said. “Apparently what people don’t understand is that the council didn’t make the (scrip) policy.”

Other changes, such as a decision to use a lottery system to determine which groups can sell beer and a proposal for increasing the price for booth rentals, have also angered some participants.