Macon-Bibb delays vote on funding Coliseum, Auditorium expenses

An accounting error related to a Disney event at the Macon Coliseum in 2015 led to $230,000 in revenues being overreported, according to the company that manages the coliseum.

A request Tuesday by Noble-Interstate Management Group for an additional $434,000 from Macon-Bibb County to cover expenses failed to garner a motion following a lengthy discussion during a meeting of the commission’s Operations and Finance Committee. Macon-Bibb officials said they’d like to get more details on how the costs were incurred, including seeing an audit, before they fork over any more money.

The largest portion of the shortfall request, about $230,000, is from an expense error related to the Disney on Ice performance, said Lloyd Lauland, vice president of operations for Interstate Hotels & Resorts, the company that owns Noble.

The county pays Noble about $8,500 a month to manage the City Auditorium and Coliseum. Under that contract, Macon-Bibb receives the revenues from events at the facilities and covers any deficits.

Noble also manages the Convention Center for the county under a separate contract.

“To the best of my knowledge, we counted revenues twice for the same piece of business that came in,” Lauland said about the Disney on Ice program. “It wasn’t anything egregious.”

Lauland said Noble called the accounting error to the attention of County Manager Dale Walker and a top county budget official about six months ago. In April, Noble told the County Commission it estimated needing about $355,000 to make it through the end of the fiscal year.

Macon-Bibb is in contract negotiations with a new management firm, Philadelphia-based Spectra, that would take over management of the coliseum and auditorium in July.

Some of the $434,000 requested Tuesday could be given to the new management firm after June 30 once it’s determined exactly how much will actually be needed, Lauland said.

Last July, Noble began fiscal 2016 with a deficit of $113,000, according to Noble documents.

Several commissioners said Tuesday they needed to review more expense reports on the facilities before voting on the matter. In the future, they said, it will be imperative that the commission is provided more updates so large shortfalls won’t come as a surprise.

“We have to pay more attention to our revenues,” Commissioner Virgil Watkins said.

Officials delve into proposed budget details

During the commission’s first fiscal 2017 budget meeting Tuesday, commissioners said they want to ensure that revenues match expenses.

The proposed $142.8 million general fund budget meets the 20 percent reduction, includes a pay increase for employees and does not call for a millage rate increase. But with Walker saying the current budget could come up about $2 million short of projected revenues, some officials said they may want to re-examine the proposed budget.

“Our fund balance is still good,” Walker said. “We’ve got at least $25 million in reserve balance.”

With a large number of Macon-Bibb employees accepting early retirement packages earlier this fiscal year, it was more difficult to determine how it would affect the budget, Commissioner Gary Bechtel said.

“This may be the first year (since consolidation) where we can be accurate on revenues and expenses through the first 12 months,” he said.

Several officials also said they want to provide the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame about $100,000 as the facility transitions through a change in management. Macon-Bibb needs to support the Sports Hall of Fame so it doesn’t move like the Georgia Music Hall of Fame did, Commissioner Mallory Jones said.

“They’ve really been tightening their belt,” Jones said. “That’s a huge thing to say that we have here in Macon-Bibb is the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.”

This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 8:41 PM with the headline "Macon-Bibb delays vote on funding Coliseum, Auditorium expenses."