City strikes deal with Balloon Fiesta

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - The City says it's time Balloon Fiesta starts paying more rent to use the park.

While no one argues the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta brings a lot of money into the city, there's been some debate on how much the group that runs fiesta should pay to help offset the City's costs.

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, or AIBF, is a non-profit that does everything from contracting food vendors, getting tents up and organizing camping and RV-ing.

Albuquerque is a sponsor of balloon fiesta, providing police and firefighters and spending millions to fix up the park.

The partnership between the two has been in place since 1997, but now they've tentatively struck a new deal, that non-profit is going to have to fork over a lot more money each year to the city. From the current $50,000 to instead $100,000.

That will help cover some of the costs taxpayers spend on fiesta. And that's not the only change.

When it comes to food, there will be even more of a local flavor. The City is asking AIBF to use locals as much as possible.

"We think it's a great way to demonstrate the City's and AIBF's commitment to local vendors," said John Soladay, Albuquerque's Chief Operations Officer.

Friday the mayor and AIBF will hold a news conference to talk more about the new deal.

The agreement isn't final just yet though, the city council still has to sign off on it.