Homeless in Arizona

Sadly the article doesn't mention a word about how much money the Phoenix Convention Center has lost or made. But from the tone of the article I suspect the Phoenix Convention Center continues to lose money as it always has.

Source

Phoenix Convention Center showdown may loom

As facility struggles, state may withhold tax revenue from city

By Dustin Gardiner The Republic | azcentral.com Sun Jul 14, 2013 11:39 PM

When plans for Phoenix’s massive glass-and-stone convention center took shape a decade ago, the city narrowly persuaded state lawmakers to pay for half of the $600 million expansion project. [This type of con game is called "I'll vote for your pork if you vote for my pork"]

At the time, city and tourism officials told legislators that building one of the largest convention facilities in the country would make downtown Phoenix a destination for business travel and would fill state and local government coffers with sales-tax dollars from visitors who would eat, shop and stay in hotels. [That's the same line of BS we have always heard when the royal rulers of Phoenix want more money for their money losing Phoenix Convention Center]

But state lawmakers were skeptical and pushed for a safeguard: If Phoenix’s projections fell short, the state could withhold sales-tax revenue from the city to reimburse itself for the bad investment. [Did they really expect the Phoenix Convention Center to make a profit after years of loses???]

Now, Phoenix officials worry that provision may come back to haunt them.

Although the meeting hall has brought more than a million convention delegates to the state, Phoenix and tourism officials are quietly fretting over its performance, given a sharp drop in event bookings. [Oddly the article doesn't say a word about all the money the Phoenix Convention Center has lost!!!!!]

Those concerns led the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city’s major convention-marketing and sales partner, to lobby the Legislature last session to remove a requirement designed to ensure that the state sees a return on its investment. [Translation - we want more money, even if this turkey isn't making any money like we claimed it would]

What has city officials so concerned is a provision requiring an economic-impact study next year, five years after the expanded center opened its doors. The study would determine whether the Phoenix Convention Center has generated enough revenue for the state tooutweigh its annual debt payments — about $20.5 million next year. [I guess that means an audit has never been done to see if the Phoenix Convention Center is making or losing money.]

Millions of dollars in sales-tax revenue from the state could be at stake. If revenue tied to the expansion of the convention center does not exceed the state’s investment, the state could withhold sales-tax distributions to the city until that loss is recouped.

Every year, the state returns to the cities a portion of the sales tax it collects. Phoenix depends on the money, known as “state shared” revenue, to help pay for everyday expenses such as police and fire protection and parks.

Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, fought efforts to remove oversight of the convention center and the provision to withhold revenue, citing the state’s massive investment: $20 million to $30 million annually for roughly the next 25 years.

He said the visitors bureau raised eyebrows at the Capitol when its lobbyist requested a repeal of the provision.

“We ought to know how well that penciled out,” Biggs said. “There were some premises, and we just need accountability.”

A state budget bill initially included an amendment to remove the study and revenue-withholding provisions, and Biggs tried unsuccessfully to block it. The amendment ended up being removed in the final days of the session when Gov. Jan Brewer succeeded in passing her budget with bipartisan allies.

Phoenix leaders worry that the study will not give a full picture, given that the convention center opened just as the Great Recession hit. They said the bad economy and boycotts spurred by Senate Bill 1070, the controversial Arizona immigration law, have hampered business at the convention center. [Translation - the Phoenix Convention Center is losing money like a drunken sailor and City of Phoenix rulers want more cash from the state of Arizona so they can continue their drunken binge using Arizona tax dollars]

Bookings for the fiscal year that ended June 30 were down about 30 percent from four years earlier. The city had roughly 189,000 convention guests, down from a high of about 275,400 in the 2009 budget year — a difference of about $125 million in direct spending, according to the city.

And the visitors bureau isn’t projecting this year will be any better. It estimates bringing in 158,000 convention delegates, though officials say bookings for subsequent years are picking up.

“We don’t want to do a study if it’s not reflective of an apples-to-apples comparison,” Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said, adding that the center cannot be judged by its recession performance alone. “That wouldn’t be fair or productive.” [Translation - We don't want any study that shows the royal rulers of Phoenix are idiots when it comes to business skills. Nor do we want any studies that show what we already know, that the Phoenix Conventions Center never has made money and never will make money]

Officials from the city and the visitors bureau were unsure if they would still seek to delay or remove the requirement for a study next legislative session. They said it’s unclear if it could impact tax distributions the city receives from the state.

State Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said Phoenix should be held to the deal it made. He said lawmakers who objected to funding for the convention center did so because they knew there could be financial drawbacks, including the possibility of an economic downturn.

“If the critics were correct and it was risky, they (Phoenix officials) need to shoulder at least part of the downside,” Kavanagh said. “They can’t have their cake and eat it, too.”

But lawmakers could face strong resistance if they try to remove funding to the city, said House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix.

Campbell and others have suggested a middle-of-the-road approach that allows for oversight but doesn’t punish Phoenix or hurt the convention business. [Translation - the Arizona Legislator will probably give Phoenix the money they want so they can continue their drinking binge using Arizona taxpayer money]

“The last thing we want to do is impact what’s a major draw for us,” Campbell said of the convention center. “I see both sides of the issue, actually.”

Aside from the recession and SB 1070, the convention business has faced challenges nationwide from tightening budgets for government and corporate travel.

Also, competition is growing among convention centers, particularly in the West, with several cities and companies opening giant, elaborate facilities. But Phoenix has fared worse than other cities with comparable convention facilities, including San Diego, Denver, San Antonio and Salt Lake City. In those cities, guest counts are slowly rebounding or are relatively flat.

Barry Aarons, a lobbyist who represents the visitors bureau, said he worries a negative economic-impact study could exacerbate the city’s problems by giving competing destinations something to use to portray Phoenix in a bad light. He said he asked lawmakers to delay the study for five years if they would not remove the requirement outright.

However, Phoenix Councilman Bill Gates said he supports oversight from the state as long as the study takes into account the headwinds Phoenix’s convention organizers have faced in recent years. [Translation - We f*cked up royal, and we think that that the taxpayers of Arizona should bail us out]

“I understand the desire of the state to have accountability,” Gates said. “Hold us accountable, but be fair about it.” [Translation - we f*cked up, but please give us more cash any how!!!!]