Convention center overhaul could mean more money for city

Billions in proposed renovations at the Las Vegas Convention Center could mean millions to North Las Vegas, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President Rossi Ralenkotter.

Ralenkotter, who also serves as the authority’s CEO, paid a visit to the North Las Vegas City Council this month, part of a countywide tour of municipalities with a stake in the group’s recently proposed $2.5 billion convention center overhaul.

The group’s plan, dubbed the Las Vegas Global Business District, would see a 350,000-square-foot remodel of the 54-year-old center alongside the addition of more than 1 million square feet of new convention space — all with an eye toward retaining Las Vegas’ reputation as the No. 1 trade show destination in North America.

“Over 17 million square feet of convention space has been added outside Las Vegas over the past decade,” Ralenkotter told North Las Vegas council members May 15. “They’re all doing one thing: trying to take us off the No. 1 spot we’ve held for the last 19 years.

“We’re going to keep it; we’re going to continue to be No. 1, but we need this renovation.”

Ralenkotter said the proposal stands to grow meeting and convention business revenues by 4 percent valleywide, tacking millions onto the $210 million in room taxes split between Clark County and municipalities throughout Southern Nevada.

For officials in cash-strapped North Las Vegas, which pulled down $2.3 million in shared room tax revenues in 2012, the boost in revenues expected to accompany the proposed convention center upgrades sounded especially appealing.

“I’m really excited about this project and our future in this valley,” said outgoing mayor and longtime authority board member Shari Buck. “It’s so important to the future for all of us, so we’re just looking forward to seeing this happen.”

Council members were not asked to take action on the proposal, one that may not see a bump in room tax returns until after the project’s first phase — which is funded through $150 million in authority-issued commercial paper — wraps up over the next two years.

In other action on the May 15 agenda, council members heard a long-awaited update on state-level oversight of the city’s finances.

North Las Vegas Finance Director Al Zochowski, fresh off a May 2 meeting with the state Committee on Local Government Finance, reported that state officials sounded “much less anxious” about the condition of the city’s books headed into fiscal year 2014.

State tax board officials have taken a hawkish stance toward the city’s solvency since a 2011 brush with municipal bankruptcy, with fears surrounding a state takeover of city finances resurfacing as recently as last July.

“It seemed to me their anxiousness about the city of North Las Vegas is subsiding somewhat,” Zochowski told the council. “I think the committee on local government finance is beginning to understand that we take our obligations very, very seriously, that we have been living within our budget ... I think they got that message.”

City attorney Jeff Barr, who also attended the Carson City meeting, told Zochowski he was underplaying his hand.

“The chair and the committee members were all quite effusive in their praise for Mr. Zochowski and his staff and the city, about how far we’ve come,” Barr said. “They were very, very complimentary.”

Recently announced plans to eliminate the city’s $19 million budget deficit are due to state tax officials by June 1.

Council members wrapped up May’s second meeting with a unanimous motion to re-bid demolition of the abandoned Buena Springs Apartment Complex at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue. The complex, long a thorn in the side of city redevelopment agency officials, now looks set to be razed early next year.

North Las Vegas City Council members plan to reconvene for a regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. June 5 in the council chambers at 2250 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter James DeHaven at jdehaven@viewnews.com or 702-477-3839.