Allegiant Stadium room tax revenue falls nearly 98% in April, May

The closure of Las Vegas Strip resorts resulted in a nearly 98 percent drop in room taxes going toward Allegiant Stadium over April and May.

In April, $143,419 in room taxes was collected from Clark County hotels that remained open during the COVID-19 related closure of hotels with casinos attached, according to a Las Vegas Stadium Authority report. That amounts to a 97 percent decline from April 2019’s $4.4 million generated.

May was even worse with a 98 percent dip. The amount collected went from $4.7 million in May 2019 to $118,750 this May.

“As you may suspect, the May collections were down significantly over the year given the resort closures,” said Brian Haynes, stadium authority spokesman.

The revenue derives from a 0.88 percentage-point room tax on hotels in Clark County, which is designed to fund the $750 million public contribution to the $2 billion stadium project.

Despite the dramatic loss in room tax revenue, officials aren’t expected to dip into the debt reserve fund, as $34 million has already been collected to pay fiscal year 2020’s debt service payment, Haynes said.

A debt reserve fund was set up as part of the bond issuance for the stadium, which called for setting aside two years worth of bond payments, or $45 million per year.

“The debt reserve balance is $68.2 million, about 76 percent of the total two-year reserve target,” Haynes said.

Allegiant Stadium, which sits at 98 percent complete, is slated for substantial completion July 31.

As of June, $1.76 billion of the project’s nearly $2 billion budget had been expended.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.