Clark County Commission OKs $500K loan, longer repayment, to Stadium Authority Board

Clark County Commissioners discuss the appointing of two temporary members to the State Assembly, Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, in the Commission Chambers in the County Government Building in Las Vegas. (Elizabeth Page Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Follow @ELIPAGEPHOTO

The Stadium Authority Board has until June 30 to pay back a loan of up to $500,000 to Clark County, two months longer than the deadline county commissioners and staff discussed at the last regular commission meeting.

Commissioners unanimously approved an interlocal agreement outlining the loan’s terms in under 10 minutes on Tuesday.

The commissioners did not publicly discuss why the repayment deadline was changed from the previously discussed date of May 1, but county spokesman Erik Pappa said it was to give the Stadium Authority more “breathing room” while it begins collecting and processing its main source of funding — revenue from a hotel room tax that goes into effect March 1.

The loan agreement requires the Stadium Authority to reimburse the county before spending the tax money on anything else.

“We anticipate the repayments to the County to be completed by May 1,” Pappa wrote in an email.

Other major stipulations of the loan discussed at the December commission meeting were left intact.

The county’s interest rate for the loan is 2.5 percent. The stadium authority must submit monthly spending reports to the county until the loan is repaid, and it can only request money on an as-needed basis.

The stadium authority plans to spend the bulk of the loan on specialized legal counsel that will negotiate the development and operating agreements of a $1.9 billion stadium envisioned to be the new home of the National Football League’s Oakland Raiders.

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who was the only one to vote against moving forward with the loan last month, said Tuesday she still felt $500,000 was too much, but she did vote to issue the loan.

“I think it’s been properly vetted. I do think it’s been securitized,” she said.

The agreement must be approved by the Stadium Authority before any money is loaned, Pappa said. That board is scheduled to meet Jan. 12.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.