Delray Beach — The Delray Beach DDA voted Monday to preserve a nonprofit rental discount at Old School Square while tightening how waivers will be applied.

The board approved a motion establishing that nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)(3) status will be eligible for a reduced rate; staff can administratively grant up to a 50% discount without a board vote. Requests for greater reductions must be brought to the board. For‑profit event producers will generally be expected to pay the full rental rate.

Why it matters: Old School Square is a public cultural campus managed by the DDA under an interlocal agreement with the city. The venue’s rental fees fund operations; the board discussed how waivers affect the city’s revenue share under the ILA and DDA budgets. Attorney and city staff commentary at the meeting emphasized the need to balance community programming, fiscal responsibility and the revenue‑sharing obligation to the city.

Board and staff discussion focused on these fixes:

- Maintain an existing nonprofit rate structure (a 50% reduction is provided by staff discretion).
- Require board approval for any waiver exceeding the administrative cap.
- Favor local nonprofit groups where feasible and bring large national nonprofit proposals to the board for case‑by‑case review.

Assistant City Manager Jeff Forrest and the DDA attorney participated in the discussion; the board noted prior years’ cuts to Old School Square operating funds and said the DDA would continue promoting weekday rentals and other revenue strategies to keep the campus financially sustainable.

Ending: The motion passed on a roll call vote; staff were directed to update the venue fee procedure language and return any specific request for larger waivers to the board.