GARDEN GROVE – It’s quite possible that for the first time in more than 30 years there won’t be a Tet festival in Little Saigon because the nonprofit that organized it in February has lost the trust of city officials.

The city received a proposal from the Vietnamese Community of Southern California, which hosted the annual Lunar New Year celebration in Garden Grove Park the last two years, a month ago.

But city staffers have not processed it because the group owes Garden Grove $27,000 from the February festival and hasn’t turned in documents yet for this year’s audit, said Kim Huy, the city’s Community Services director.

The city is accepting proposals from other nonprofits but has yet to receive any. The deadline is Oct. 29.

“It’s not a city-run event,” Huy said. “It’s very possible there won’t be a Tet festival (in Garden Grove) in 2016.”

Further, a vice president for the group says it no longer plans on hosting the Tet festival because there are too many barriers to financial success. One problem: Competition for vendors and sponsors increased thanks to the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations moving its Tet festival to Costa Mesa after being kicked out of Garden Grove before the 2014 new year in the wake of contract negotiations breaking down.

The Vietnamese Community of Southern California also says the city may have overcharged it for police overtime and wants the $27,000 reduced, said the vice president, Nelson Nguyen. The Police Department used 890 hours of overtime to patrol the festival, costing $53,660.74, according to documents received under a public records request by the Register.

In addition to the $27,000, the group had paid Garden Grove $50,000 before the festival for city expenses.

“It’s very expensive to operate the festival, because the whole city is involved and there are a lot of agencies to deal with,” Nguyen said. “It would be a challenge for anybody to operate the festival (and be successful) economically.”

There has been a large Tet festival in Garden Grove, Westminster or Santa Ana – Little Saigon covers portions of each of the cities – since the early 1980s. And from 2003 to this year, Garden Grove has held one.

But in October 2013, the City Council refused to renew a contract with the UVSA, sending that group to the Orange County Fair & Event Center. The Vietnamese Community of Southern California stepped in to keep a festival in Little Saigon in 2014 – scrambling for vendors and sponsorships.

With little time to plan either festival, both the Costa Mesa and Garden Grove ones drew small crowds.

But by all accounts, UVSA had a comeback year in 2015, netting $186,809, half of which the group donated to other local nonprofits. Nguyen did not give exact financial information for the Garden Grove festival, but said it raised about $150,000 in revenue.

“I have to admit, because of the lack of experience, the organization in Garden Grove wasn’t as prepared as USVA (this year),” said Westminster Councilman Tyler Diep, who was master of ceremonies for the Garden Grove festival’s opening ceremonies and also attended the Costa Mesa festival. “But that’s understandable. They just didn’t have the experience.”

The City Council probably would not be able to approve a contract until the end of November at the earliest; the Tet Festival is traditionally held the weekend before or after the Lunar New Year, which in 2016 is Feb. 8 – leaving only two months to organize a festival.

Even if no other group submits a proposal, it is unlikely the city will allow the Vietnamese Community of Southern California to host the next festival.

A majority of the City Council has said the city cannot afford the financial risk, especially with Garden Grove spending $4 million from its savings to balance the budget this fiscal year.

“I would advise my colleagues not to get involved with a group that is unwilling or unable to pay its obligations,” said Councilman Chris Phan. “It really pains me that we may not have a festival in Garden Grove, but I can’t put the entire city in financial trouble.”

Contact the writer: 714-704-3707 or chaire@ocregister.com