New Year’s Day, Rose Bowl Taxes, Fees and Charges to Go Up in February

The Pasadena City Council on Monday approved rate increases for the several Rose Parade and Rose Bowl related items.

The approval means that grandstand permit applications, the Rose Bowl admission tax, and the New Year’s Day related business grandstand seat surcharge will all be increased on Feb. 1.

In accordance with the Pasadena Municipal Code, the Department of Finance is required to present the Rose Bowl Admission Tax, the Grandstand Seat Surcharge, and the Grandstand Permit Application Fee schedules to the City Council not later than Dec. 15, with the adjustments to start on Feb. 1 each year.

The taxes and fees are adjusted by an amount equal to the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area for the preceding 12-month period ending on Oct. 1.

The Finance Department said the CPI for all urban consumers in the area increased by 7.8108 percent between Oct. 1, 2021 and Oct. 1, 2022. The Department is proposing that the Rose Bowl Admission Tax, the Grandstand Seat Surcharge, and the Grandstand Permit Application Fee be increased by the same amount – by 7.8108 percent – on the fiscal year 2023 Revised Schedule of Taxes, Fees, and Charges.

An Agenda Report by the Finance Department showed the grandstand permit application tax, charged for each seat in each grandstand designed or used for seating for a person viewing the Tournament of Roses parade, will be 84 cents per seat, or a minimum of $53.64 as proposed.

The Rose Bowl admission tax, which is levied upon all admission tickets to the Rose Bowl, is proposed to be nine cents on the first dollar of the ticket price. Each additional dollar after the first dollar will be charged 12 cents, for a maximum rate of $2.06.

The New Year’s Day related business grandstand seat surcharge, a special business license tax levied upon every vendor engaged in the current business of selling seats for viewing the Tournament of Roses parade, will be increased to $7.19 per seat from the $6.66 rate previously adopted.