Indiana

Suddenly, Everybody Seems to C.I.B.

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

The Indianapolis Colts could conceivably not get reimbursed for their game day expenses if the Capitol Improvement Board runs out of money later this year. CIB President Bob Grand says the Board cannot spend money it does not have and if doesn’t have the money to pay its expenses it won’t make them.

At an emergency CIB meeting this morning the board voted to renegotiate all existing operational contracts and suspend all payments not related to keeping the convention center open.  And that could include any payments to the Colts.  Under the terms of the Stadium agreement the Colts are entitled to up $1.5 million in reimbursements for game day expenses such as security and ushers.

In addition, Don Welsh of the Convention and Visitors Association says the lawmakers should be concerned that the city could lose some of its heavy hitter events like the NCAA Final Four and the BIg Ten tournament if the CIB’s funding solutions aren’t solved.

However, what was different about this meeting is that all parties seemed to agree that they needed to present a single, unified front to convince lawmakers about the neccessity for a solution to the CIB’s $47 million operational deficit.

It would have been nice had this been the case four months ago, but better late than never.

Bob Grand\’s CIB Comments

Don Welsh\’s CIB Comments

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on May 01, 2009 (boomark / email).