Austin, Texas (October
4, 2018) BSB — The Republic of Texas biker rally and the Texas Heat Wave car show
will return to the Travis County Expo Center next summer, forcing the Travis
Central Appraisal District to find another location for its property tax
hearings. A 3-2 vote at the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday rejected
TCAD's request to rent the Eastside facility and directed county staff to
negotiate contracts with the motorcycle and car events.
TCAD was set to rent the venue from May to August of 2019,
when it expects to hear from more than 140,000 county residents protesting
their property tax bills. After success at the Expo Center last year, TCAD
Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler said she and her staff were looking forward to
returning in 2019. They submitted a signed contract to the county and only
needed approval from county commissioners, but ROT and Heat Wave, which have
both been held in the county for over two decades, objected; TCAD's three-month
occupancy would interfere with their 2019 event dates. The ROT rally is set for
June and Texas Heat Wave for July.
The motorcycles will be back next year. Photo by: John Anderson
Last week, commissioners briefly took up the rental issue,
but punted it a week so they could try to sort through the situation. The vote
followed a tense debate in which commissioners offered a glimpse into how they
each expect staff to work with business partners in renting out the Expo
Center. On one side, Commissioners Brigid Shea and Gerald Daugherty argued that
the county should work to maintain relationships with "longstanding
partners," as Daugherty put it. On the other end, County Judge Sarah Eckhardt
and Commissioner Margaret Gómez suggested that staff should rent out the
128-acre site on a first-come, first-served basis. In the middle was Jeff
Travillion, commissioner in Precinct 1, where the Expo Center is located. He
hoped for a compromise in which all three entities would be able to use the
facility. Eckhardt and Gómez were the two votes against continuing negotiations
with ROT and Heat Wave.
Increased facility rental fees and miscommunication between
county staff and the event organizers were at the heart of the dispute. Texas
Heat Wave Promotions Director Chris Schneider said rental fees for his event
rose from around $27,000 in previous agreements to over $40,000 in the new
contract offered by the county. Schneider said Heat Wave was prepared to cut
the check, but that he and the event's accounting team needed more time to
consider "such a big decision." ROT President Jerry Bragg, however,
was less comfortable with the price; it would have been a bigger stretch for
his event to afford the increased rental fees. Meanwhile, TCAD was ready to
sign a contract for its three-month rental, which would net the county nearly
$150,000.
In addition to the increased rental fees, Bragg and
Schneider expressed frustration with how county staff communicated with them
about contract negotiations. Bragg said it was unclear whom he was supposed to
work with to negotiate a contract, and Schneider said he was misled on how long
his event would have to make a decision on agreeing to the raised rent. Travis
County Director of Facilities Management Roger A. El Khoury refuted ROT's
characterization at the Tuesday hearing. "I talked to ROT," he said.
"I did everything I can. ... I'm not trying to dump them completely, but
ROT did not come to the table and [another] opportunity came."
Now, that opportunity is lost. Crigler said TCAD will likely
have to find an alternative venue, which could prove difficult for the
appraisal district. "Time is a considerable obstacle for us at this
time," Crigler said. "There were competing needs and desires from all
parties, we're not going to pass judgment on anybody. ... We're going to
respect the decision of the Commissioners Court."
SOURCE: The Austin Chronicle
