CIB approves convention-center incentive payments after April operations update

The Community Improvement Board received an April operations and finance update for the convention center and approved incentive payments under the existing operating memorandum.

Tenille, the convention center staff presenter, told the board that the center hosted 14 events in April accounting for 16 event days, with estimated attendance of about 1,100 and projected gross revenue "a little over $56,000." Tenille also reported over 10,000 museum visitors since opening and noted marketing work including billboards and the Terre Haute visitor guide ad.

Kyle Carlson of Baker Tilly presented cash-flow figures: April expenditures were about $9,900 and the ending cash balance for April was just over $4,000,000. Carlson said May food-and-beverage tax collections were $299,000, up from $285,000 in May 2024, and that county distributions totaling $500,000 had been received for May; the board expected one remaining city distribution in June.

The board reviewed two incentive calculations under the facility's second amendment: a financial incentive computed by formula and a qualitative incentive based on performance metrics. The transcript identified the financial incentive as $21,677.73 and the qualitative incentive as $25,000. After discussion, the board voted to approve the incentive payments to the facility operator; the motion to award the $25,000 qualitative incentive passed with the board voting "Aye." Earlier in the discussion board members also moved the quantitative (financial) incentive forward.

Members debated the qualitative metric because it required subjective scoring across categories such as economic impact, event retention, stakeholder engagement and capital planning. One board member said expenses at the facility were higher than peers and requested additional operational expense comparisons; another said the quantitative payment is formulaic and appropriate to approve.

The board approved the financial incentive by formula and awarded the qualitative incentive; members agreed to revisit the qualitative criteria and benchmarking in a future meeting for potential adjustments. The qualitative incentive discussion will be revisited in July and staff was asked to provide supplemental information on operational expenses and scoring methodology before that meeting.