UPDATE: WOW, that was fast! City News video already up.
Another Academy award winning performance by MMM, crying about the profits of the Events Center and chastising the naysayer’s (who actually use math instead of emotions to point out the FACTS). But let’s look at those FACTUAL(?) numbers.
Interesting again the way Tracy Turbak plays with numbers?
6 Month Statistics
$1.1 million net operating income $962,383.40 sales tax payable 408,807 attendance (October 3, 2014-April 2, 2015- not including Grand Opening events) 94 event dates (includes multiple events in one day) 11 sold-out events 8 total pop/rock concerts 5 total country concerts 32 basketball games
Let’s forget about the events. What is important is the actual numbers of revenue including sponsorships.
Does the city collect sales tax on the sponsorship rights including the ‘non-profit’ Sanford Hospital system naming rights?
Does the city collect revenue on the rental of the events center itself?
Backing into the total taxable revenue of the Events Center shows about $16,000,000. Using a minimum tax rate for Sioux Falls business of 6% (I know some revenue was at 7% for entertainment / food but let’s be conservative) we find the SD Sales Tax revenue is close to the $962,383.40 reported.
Now look at the SD Sales Tax in terms of attendees.
Let’s say we break down tax collected per reported person. If we have $962,383.40 Sales Tax payable and we have 408,807 people showing up to an event, the city collected only $2.35 per person. So we built an events center where the city claims each person spent approximately $39.18 to attend the complex. $39.18 for tickets and concessions?
Let’s just look at the 13 sold out concerts:
10,000 (sold out concert tickets)
$60 (per ticket)
              13 (concerts)
$7,800,000 (total) * .07 tax rate = $546,000 (Sales Tax due State of South Dakota)
$7,800,000 (total) * .06 tax rate = $468,000 (Sales Tax due State of South Dakota)
Who is paying all the sales taxes? Where are they? Something once again does not add up. In each of the 94 events, $10,238.12 was collected. How? Once again the numbers are not adding up. It appears we are just to be excited by big numbers without understanding the actual audit. Tracy once again is playing with fuzzy math.
And let’s pretend for a moment that the EC does make $2.2 million this year. That doesn’t even come close to paying the almost $10 million dollar mortgage per year. Hardly in the black. Like I said before the vote, this place was built to make other people money, contractors, promoters, scalpers and management companies, while the taxpayer’s of this city foot the mortgage.
Thanks!