HOLLAND, Mich. — The city of Holland is prepping for its iconic Tulip Time Festival that's scheduled for next spring, but the process has presented some financial surprises. City officials faced significant cost increases when seeking bids for tulip bulbs from the Netherlands, necessary for the festival.
According to Holland Director of Parks and Recreation Andy Kenyon, this year's tulip bulb bid cost about $70,000 more than it did last year.
"In years past, we pay about six cents up to 12 cents to 20 cents a bulb. This year, they're 12 cents, 15, 32 cents a bulb, in that range, depending upon the style, so quite a bit more expensive," Kenyon said at Centennial Park Tuesday.
The city received three bids for next year’s tulip bulbs at $189,500 (UNEX), $262,032 (Devroomen), and $386,331 (SiteOne), far exceeding the city’s budget of $118,000.
“The tariffs and the weather and the shipping costs were all things that the bidders told us were going to be causing the increase," said Kenyon. "It's one of those three things, not one in particular, but all those things combined [that's] cause the tulip bulbs to go up."
Local nonprofit Holland in Bloom stepped in to assist, donating $15,000 to help cover part of the inflated costs.
The city ultimately accepted the lowest bid from UNEX at $189,500, a decision Mayor Nathan Bocks described as “well worth the price.”
With nearly a million visitors to the festival this past year, he said the event is a great economic driver for the community.
“When you're looking at an investment of $190,000 versus an economic return of $100 million, that's not a difficult decision to make," said Bocks. "That's money that goes to our restaurants, it goes to our hotels, it goes to our small businesses, and that has a ripple effect throughout the community."
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