County won’t need to tap reserve fund for upcoming stadium bond payment
With tourism volume in Las Vegas nearing pre-pandemic levels, Clark County doesn’t expect to again dip into a debt reserve account to make the next scheduled bond payment for Allegiant Stadium.
“The county has informed the Stadium Authority that revenues were sufficient to cover the Dec. 1 debt service payment with no additional funds required from the debt reserve,” Stadium Authority staff lead Brian Haynes said in an email.
The bond payments are intended to cover the $750 million public contribution to the $2 billion construction of Allegiant Stadium. The payments are to be made twice annually through 2048, typically on Dec. 1 and again June 1, with the amount varying each time. Next month’s payment is $16 million.
Clark County pulled $11.7 million from the fund to make the $18.6 million payment due June 1 and used $11.6 million to make the $16.1 million bond payment due Dec.1, 2020.
The debt reserve account is generated via a 0.88 percent room tax on Clark County hotel rooms. The account stood at $54.5 million as of Oct. 31, according to Haynes.
Through the first three months of fiscal year 2022 (July 2021-June 2022), the room tax has generated $11.7 million in revenue. The tax generated $4.3 million in July and $3.7 million in both August and September.
October’s total is not yet available.
This year’s tax revenue is a sharp increase over the first three months of fiscal year 2021, which saw just $4 million in room tax generated as tourism was just beginning to recover following coronavirus-related restrictions.
In total, fiscal year 2021 saw $21 million in room tax generated, with numbers steadily increasing toward the end of that period.
Data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reveals there have been 22.7 million visitors to Las Vegas through September. That is up 72.2 percent over the first nine months of 2020. However, this year’s visitor numbers still lag behind the first nine months of 2019 when Las Vegas recorded 31.9 million visitors.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter
