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The increased spending helps explain why the state fair is raising parking fees and ticket prices. The cost to park at one of the fair's lots will double, from $5 to $10, beginning this year. Tickets will cost $6, up from $3. Children ages 12 and under and adults 65 and older will continue to receive free admission. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul's office has said that the increased fair fees are needed to boost revenue and offset expenses. 

A major driver of the fair's increased expenses is contractual services. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, the fair spent $13.8 million, with $2.5 million for contractual services. The state Department of Agriculture and Markets, which oversees the fair, projects that expenses will rise to $22.7 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year. Nearly half of the disbursements (an estimated $10.5 million) fall under contractual services. 

According to the governor's office, the contractual services line items includes added costs for entertainment at Chevy Park — paying the acts, equipment rentals, security, sound systems and trash cleanup. The fair has two main concert venues: Chevy Court, which is near the main entrance to the fairgrounds, and Chevy Park on the west end of the fair in the New York Experience area. 

The increased expenses also factor in plans to have a contractor oversee cleaning and parking at the fair. 

The fair's contractual service expenses have risen in the last few years. According to the finances provided to Ë®¹ûÅÉAV, the fair paid $3.9 million for contractual services in 2018-19. Three years later, in the 2021-22 fiscal year, those costs increased to nearly $6.4 million. 

In the current fiscal year, the fair is projected to spend $5.3 million on contractual services. 

There are other expenses that are expected to rise in the upcoming fiscal year. The fair is projected to spend more than $3.5 million on entertainment in 2023-24, up from $3.4 million in the current fiscal year. Utility costs are projected to increase to $1.4 million, nearly double what they were a few years ago. 

As costs rise due to inflation and other factors, revenues have not kept pace. The state projects that fair revenues will be $16.3 million in 2023-24 — but that's with more than $7 million in state funding. 

The fair projects it will collect nearly $4.8 million from concessions this year. Before ticket prices were increased, the fair estimated it would receive $1.5 million from admissions, well below the nearly $4 million it reported in the 2017-18 fiscal year and about $1 million less than the record-setting 2019-20 year when the fair drew more than 1.3 million visitors. 

Fair revenues took a major hit in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first year the fair was canceled since World War II. To help support the fair, the state has provided more than $17 million, records show. 

But the fair's goal is to be self-sufficient — to cover its day-to-day operations with revenue from the state fair and non-fair events. Discounted tickets and free admission were tactics used to drive up attendance in 2019. Before the fair was canceled in 2020, the state had announced ticket prices would be $3. Ticket prices remained at that level in 2021 and 2022. 

The lower ticket prices affected revenue, especially when attendance dipped. And with fewer people at the fairgrounds, revenue from concessions and parking declined. 

The state has invested millions into the fairgrounds, including the construction of a $63 million expo center. Hochul announced last year that $35 million more would be provided for the construction of a new sheep barn, goat pavilion and other projects. 

In her 2023-24 budget proposal, Hochul is asking the state Legislature for $14 million to support ongoing improvements and projects at the fairgrounds.