Park City is Paying 60% Commission on Ad Sales at The Ice Rink?

If you’re a local real estate agent your commission is probably 1%-2% of your next transaction. If you sell cars, you’ll probably get 25%-30% of the profit on your next sale. If you are doing general sales work, pounding the pavement, you’ll likely receive 30%-40% commission on your next deal. If you have the contract for ad sales at the Park City Ice rink, your commission rate makes those look like chump change.

On Thursday, the Park City City Council will be voting on renewing a contract for the sale of advertising space and program sponsorships at the Park City Ice Arena. Matthew Senske, a former Ice Arena employee, was awarded the contract in late 2012. His company, Senske LLC, signed the contract in April 2013. Senske was required, and met, a target of $20,000 in sales during the first 6 months. It is also likely Senske will meet his 18 month target in October 2014. What will Senske LLC make on each sale of ads or sponsorships at the rink? 60%.

According to documents created by the Ice Rink, Senske LLC has sold about $56,240 of ads through August. The company needs to sell an additional $3,760 this month to hit the goal of $60,000 of sales in 18 months.

By all measures, it seems like Senske LLC has done a decent job. It also appears like there weren’t many proposals to initially choose from in 2012. Finally, it also seems like Senske LLC is the type of company Park City would like to support, with a US bob sledder at its helm.

However, these are also public funds at play. The Ice Rink is poised to expand with approximately $2.5 million more in funds if a bond initiative passes in November. This means each Summit County home owner and business will pay more in property taxes. If that’s the case, we as citizens need to demand that our money is being used wisely.

While perhaps in 2012, with few takers, the Ice Rink had to pay 60% commissions in order to find anyone who would be willing to sell their advertising. However, it is now two years later. The economy has improved and businesses are looking to expand. To be frank, a 60% commission seems absurd. It would be shocking if there wasn’t a qualified person or company that would take this on for a 40% commission and still meet the goals. Due to local ties, we would hope that company is Senske LLC. If not, we aren’t excited about the city throwing money away, especially when more is being asked from their citizens already.

Read the report here