Attempts to boost Kino Sports Complex revenues with smaller sporting tournaments and community events have failed to keep the stadium district from running in the red, meaning taxpayers will likely foot more of the bill.
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said that while public use of the 162-acre south-side facility continues to grow, the county will have to dedicate roughly $1.5 million a year to maintain current operations.
In the last fiscal cycle, the county brought in $8.6 million from the complex, a combination of hotel-bed tax, car-rental tax, earned revenues and one-time expenditures from the general fund.
The recommendation, which will be included in the next fiscal year’s estimated $1.3 billion county budget, would increase the primary property-tax rate by approximately 3 cents.
The proposed increase would add about $3.40 to the tax bill of the owner of the average $116,000 home.
In a 25-page memo to the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Huckelberry recommends an annual allocation of $1.5 million for the complex until at least 2017. That’s after years of “one-time” infusions of the same amount.
The county is expected to pay off the remaining debt of $10.7 million on the stadium in three years.
The writing has been on the wall for a while, despite attempts to use the stadium district a viable venue for both baseball and soccer games, hosting various community events as well as being a part of the annual Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase, he said.
The memo to the supervisors outlines more than two dozen events held at the Stadium District in the last year.
“Given the $1.3 million decrease in designated Stadium District revenues since FY 2007/08 from the hotel bed tax, car rental tax, and recreational vehicle tax, as well as the decrease of over $1 million per year in revenue since the loss of MLB Spring Training, it is apparent permanent General Fund support will be necessary for the stadium,” Huckelberry wrote.
He said the community use of the fields year-round is an appropriate use of the county’s general-fund money.
“Significantly increasing amateur and community use due to converting baseball fields to soccer, as well as continued significant FY 2013/14 amateur baseball use of other practice facilities, requires additional General Fund support to balance the Stadium District budget,” he wrote.
Additionally, the county will increase fees for using the fields in the coming months.
The Kino Sports Complex has 20 fields, two community parks and the 11,000-seat Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium.
A study by Visit Tucson, a marketing group, suggests events held at Kino Stadium in the last 12 months have brought $8.5 million into the regional economy.
