Stadium Board Chairman: Expect Clark County To Tap Raiders Stadium Reserves Again In June To Make Stadium Bond Payment
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It’s expected that Clark County will again have to tap a stadium reserve fund in spring 2021 to make a Raiders stadium bond payment because of a big drop in hotel room tax revenues from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We do anticipate to draw on reserves for the June payment at some level,” said Steve Hill, chairman of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority and head of the local tourism agency, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). Hill made his comments during Wednesday’s 1 p.m. stadium board meeting.
Only two weeks ago in November, Clark County drew down the reserves by more than $11.5 million on Thanksgiving Eve so that the county could make a $16 million payment on the stadium bonds Dec. 1. The coronavirus pandemic decimated hotel room tax revenues, which are being used to pay for the public’s $750 million contribution to the $1.94 billion stadium project. The stadium by itself cost $1.4 billion to build, while the rest of the project budget was spent on land acquisitions, design costs, professional expenses etc.
“Thank goodness we have these reserves,” stadium board member Ken Evans said during the meeting.
In other stadium news:
- The Raiders’ stadium point man — Don Webb — said this is his final stadium board meeting and gave a nice farewell speech to the board. Hope you can ride your bicycle more, Don.
- The board received a report about a proposed “stadium district” from Nancy Amundsen, director of the Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning. The stadium district document should be available in mid-2021.
- Webb mentioned that the overall stadium project budget will be reduced by a little more than $25 million from $1.97 billion to $1.94 billion. Webb mentioned the Raiders funded stadium improvements like end one club areas, more suites and an exterior box office for $170 million, but that the budget came in a little more than $25 million under budget.
A fast-food burger joint is also going in near the stadium that would be part of this so-called “stadium district” with an underground drive-through.
