OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Capital Improvement Board of Managers of Marion County Meeting - August 25, 2025

Other Meetings (A-H) — Monday, August 25, 2025
BodyIndianapolis, Indiana
SessionOther Meetings (A-H)
DateMonday, August 25, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 57:35

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

I think I'm gonna get started.

0:04

Oh, you've got a capital.

0:07

This is uh official.

0:09

I didn't get it just from what I was present of the Port Harrison Reece of Board.

0:12

I had the same issue.

0:13

I didn't knock on the table to get everybody's attention.

0:15

So I'm gonna keep bringing it.

0:18

Um Capital Improvement Board of Managers of Marion County to order.

0:30

So first item on the agenda is approval of our minutes on July 11th.

0:35

Second.

0:36

All those in favor?

0:39

Thank you.

0:41

Um now we come to the most important thing we're gonna do today, and that's consider our 2026 budget.

0:48

Um just a bit of a preface.

0:51

I think we all have been speaking about this all year, but we all knew that 2025 is not going to be the blackbuster year that 2024 was with revenue.

1:00

That was an anomaly.

1:01

We're not gonna have an eclipse every year, nor are we gonna have Taylor Swift in town.

1:05

So those things really uh made a different outcome for 2024.

1:11

And 2025, I feel like our staff and Andy and all our leadership team, well, really everybody has done a great job looking at costs throughout the year, as everybody on the board knows the budget process isn't just something that we kind of start working on in July and put together for August.

1:29

Um staff's work very hard throughout the year.

1:32

Um last year I started meeting with visit Indy with Andy to talk about their budget, and we did that again this year.

1:40

They receive most of their funds, 90% of them from us, and we receive our funds from the various people, not just citizens in Indiana, but um tax people that come in and use our venues, so it's taxpayers' money, it's public money, and that's a special trust that we call for everyone.

1:58

So appreciate uh the candor and the meetings with Leonard and his team last year and again this year.

2:04

Um Nick Terrell and I also meet with our senior budget staff and and Andy in preparation for this meeting, and I want to express my appreciation to Tim, Hart, and Caroline for all the time they have taken throughout the year explaining and going through these meetings with us, and we really appreciate all the hard work that goes into managing expenses year in year out, and that's been very challenging with the Sydney Hotel and the convention center expansion this year.

2:33

So thank you, Andy, for all your good work.

2:35

I think you've got a couple things.

2:37

Thank you.

2:37

Yeah, I just want to sort of remind folks, um, especially if there's uh folks watching or don't know much about um CI the CIB.

2:46

The CIB obviously is uh the major funder for and uh manager for the largest venues um that attract visitors to Marion County and the state of Indiana.

3:00

Um Lucas Royal Stadium Convention Center, uh Gambridge Field House, Victory Field.

3:06

Um and uh also you know we as Marcy mentioned um do fund visit India and they do an incredible job best in the business about making sure that the that our venues and the hotels um that are connected to the venues and surrounding um all of us downtown and throughout the county are full and um they do an outstanding job and resulting in you know just to make it clear 47,000 jobs just in Marion County, and that translates to about 1.8 or 1.8 billion dollars in wages just in Marion County.

3:52

Um about three point eight billion dollars of visitor spending just in Marion County people coming to Indianapolis, dropping off their money and leaving which we appreciate and that generates for the state and the city um about 300 million dollars in tax revenue again just from Marion County.

4:15

We say this to to sort of just highlight that when we spend this money, it is important um in that it really does facilitate an entire industry and that relies on it, and um you know it's our our job to keep uh reinvesting the money that we do receive from the state and from the city back into this industry and perpetuating it and growing, and that's our job.

4:44

So um this budget does that again.

4:47

There's lots to talk about in this budget.

4:49

Um I'm gonna let Tim, who unfortunately for Tim, but excitingly for his son, is dropping his son off at um college right now.

5:08

So thank you, Andy.

5:12

Um 2026 budget, um, revenues total 212 million dollars.

5:17

Uh that is down 10% or 24 million dollars from the 2025 budget.

5:23

Um the expenses total 247 million dollars, which is down 9% or 25 million dollars from the 25 budget.

5:32

Um that gives a bottom line or net amount of a negative 35 and a half million dollars.

5:38

Um that is about a million dollars better or higher uh than the 2025 budget.

5:44

Um that negative number, I want to remind you every year I talked about it, but um there's kind of a threefold deck um causes that to be a negative number every year.

5:54

Um, one is that it's what I call the appropriations budget, and what that is is that we build in contingency or um some funds there to ensure that we can take advantage of opportunities that um may come up, such as concerts that afford us the ability to uh put money up front so that we can um do events um quickly and we have the funds there so that we can make the money in the end.

6:22

Um also if there are any unforeseen major repairs, um that we can act quick enough to get those repaired um so events can continue as um expected.

6:32

Um so we need those funds appropriated in the budget so that we don't have to go back to the city county council to ask for additional preparations, which may take um some time to get that done.

6:42

So we put that in the budget.

6:45

Um if they if we don't need them, we're not gonna use them, um, but they're included in that budget.

6:51

Um second thing is just the ebb and flow of abnormal expenses, and I always relate it to your household.

6:58

Um if you have a furnace go out, you know, that that's a pretty significant um expense that you're gonna have, but you don't have it every year.

7:05

You have a meeting every 10 years, 15 years.

7:08

Um we have the same thing, we just have a really big house to care for.

7:12

So um there are going to be expenses that we have that we don't have every year, so there's that up and flow of large capital investments.

7:20

Um you'll see a few of them in our uh we'll talk about later, um, that we're not gonna have every year.

7:26

So there's that flow there.

7:28

The last part there is um investing in the future.

7:31

So there are also some of those capital investments that we're investing in in our future and as well as um then the future of our community.

7:40

Um, the economic impact that um some of those investments will make you know, we need to keep going forward and investing in the future so that we can do those uh future events and um help with the community on that.

7:54

So those three things I always keep in mind when I'm talking about why it's at a negative um bottom line there.

8:04

Um next slide, the budget funding.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Tourism Management███████████████15%
Public Engagement████████████12%
Hotel Management██████████10%
Public Safety██████████10%
Construction Projects████████8%
Procedural█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Capital Improvement Board of Managers of Marion County Meeting - August 25, 2025

The Capital Improvement Board (CIB) of Marion County convened on August 25, 2025, to consider the 2026 budget, receive monthly financial and operational reports, and approve routine items. Chair Marcy led the meeting, which included a detailed presentation on the proposed 2026 budget, reports from venue operators, and unanimous approvals of minutes, equipment disposal, and claims.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes – The board unanimously approved the minutes from the July 11, 2025 meeting.
  • Disposal of Obsolete Equipment – Approved without objection.
  • Claims – Two expense vouchers were approved together: a regular voucher of $4,440,474.49 and a confirming voucher of $12,355.60, both approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made. The chair called for public comments and then adjourned the meeting.

Discussion Items

  • 2026 Budget Presentation – Andy (CIB staff) and Tim (via remote, as he was dropping his son off at college) presented the proposed 2026 budget. Key points:
    • Total revenues: $212 million, down 10% ($24 million) from the 2025 budget.
    • Total expenses: $247 million, down 9% ($25 million) from 2025.
    • Net budget: a negative $35.5 million, about $1 million better than the 2025 budget.
    • The negative bottom line is explained by three factors: building in contingency for opportunities (e.g., concerts, urgent repairs), abnormal cyclical expenses (e.g., major capital repairs), and strategic investments in future growth.
    • Unrestricted operating reserves were $239 million as of June 30, 2025, forecasted to be $209 million at end of 2025, and $173.5 million at end of 2026 if the negative budget is realized. Chair noted reserves were nearly negligible in 2008, built to $149 million pre-pandemic, and rose to $239 million recently.
    • Tax revenues: $160.133 million, a 7% increase over 2025 budget (conservative). Admissions tax up 29% ($5.5 million) due to events and success of Pacers and Fever. Hotel PSDA fixed at $24 million cap.
    • Operator revenues: $51.536 million, down 40% ($34.5 million) mainly due to a $34 million city infusion not budgeted in 2026; the city funding is now spread over time.
    • Personal services: $32.386 million, up 8% ($2.3 million) including a possible 3% salary increase and union health/welfare costs.
    • Supplies: $8.212 million, up 13% ($921,000) due to cost increases.
    • Other services: $140.130 million, up 24% ($27 million), including security increases (82% to $4 million), consulting fees, NCAA final basketball sharing, repairs/maintenance (up 81% to $4 million), and grants for Signia Hotel, Pan Am Tower repairs, and ASAE conference.
    • Capital investments: $35.169 million, down $50 million from 2025 (which included hotel construction costs). Projects include Sky Bridges ($8M over Capital Ave, $5M over Pennsylvania St, $4M over Maryland St), Wi-Fi at Lucas Oil Stadium ($7M), new seating at Victory Field ($4M, half reimbursed), and convention center lobby renovation ($1.5M).
    • Bond payments: $31.247 million, down $6 million due to amortization schedules.
    • A $70 million equity investment in the Signia Hotel (approved earlier in 2025) will be drawn from reserves; the CIB will receive 14% of proceeds from sale or hotel revenue.
    • Starting in 2028, $30 million of CIB revenue will shift to the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) to pay off stadium debt, emphasizing the need to build fund balance.
  • Questions & Clarifications – Board members asked about the relationship between high-revenue events (e.g., Taylor Swift) and expenses; Andy explained that staffing is largely temporary (stagehands) and costs are covered by contingency. The 2026 budget assumes a conservative number of concerts, with contingency to cover additional events.
  • Monthly Financial Report (June 2025) – Presented by Tim. Net income of $2.3 million, $3.3 million better than budget due to underspending in capital investments. Tax revenues $13 million, in line with budget. Operating revenue $4 million, $700,000 below budget due to food service and labor reimbursement. Personal services under budget by $600,000. Supplies over budget by $134,000. Other services over by $670,000. Debt service on schedule.
  • Casey Sports & Entertainment Report – Matt Albrecht reported a record year at Gainbridge Fieldhouse: 10 more shows than prior year, all-time highs in admissions tax and food/beverage sales. The Pacers and Fever drove strong results. Upcoming shows include Rascal Flatts and continued booking efforts.
  • Visit Indy Report – Leonard presented hotel market data. June 2025 occupancy was down from 2024 (due to USA Swimming in 2024), but year-to-date downtown occupancy at 65.2% and RevPAR at $134.65 (down 4.9%). However, weekday occupancy is improving: four nights of the week now over 70% (vs. two in 2023). Sunday remains weak. Preliminary July 2025 data shows an all-time record month (WNBA All-Star Game). The 2025 over 2023 RevPAR growth is nearly 16%, six times the US average. Group booking pipeline is at 146% of goal, but bookings are delayed due to association budget concerns. The ASAE conference (August 2026) is expected to generate significant future business.
  • Convention Center Operations Report – Monique reported July 2025 occupancy of 58.4% (vs. 80% in July 2024). Attendance of 154,457 was the highest July on record, driven by back-to-back events (IBE, WNBA Live, United Costello Youth Congress, Gen Con). Gen Con broke its all-time attendance record. Upcoming events include Eli Lilly, Sam’s Club, and Do it Best (now including True Value). September has no dark days.
  • Lucas Oil Stadium Report – Eric reported on recent events: United Pentecostal group, Gen Con expanded footprint, Drum Corps International World Championship ran smoothly, Colts preseason game had strong attendance and per caps. Upcoming events include home school football, Playbook Sports, Colts home opener, and TED Sports Indy discovery session. Concert announcements for 2026 are expected soon.
  • Construction Project Update – Signia Hotel – Andy reported that the 36th floor is being poured, glass up to 30th floor. Topping out ceremony planned for late September. The building is expected to be fully enclosed by year-end. The project is on track to open 30–60 days early (original official date December 1, 2026, but Hilton contracts currently start July 2027). The contractor will provide a firm completion date 30 days after topping out.

Key Outcomes

  • Approval of 2026 Budget – The board voted unanimously to approve the 2026 budget and the accompanying salary grade ranges. The budget includes a negative $35.5 million bottom line, funded by operating reserves.
  • Approval of Disposal of Obsolete Equipment – Unanimously approved.
  • Approval of Claims – Two expense vouchers totaling $4,452,830.09 were approved unanimously.
  • Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned following the call for public comments.

Meeting Transcript

I think I'm gonna get started. Oh, you've got a capital. This is uh official. I didn't get it just from what I was present of the Port Harrison Reece of Board. I had the same issue. I didn't knock on the table to get everybody's attention. So I'm gonna keep bringing it. Um Capital Improvement Board of Managers of Marion County to order. So first item on the agenda is approval of our minutes on July 11th. Second. All those in favor? Thank you. Um now we come to the most important thing we're gonna do today, and that's consider our 2026 budget. Um just a bit of a preface. I think we all have been speaking about this all year, but we all knew that 2025 is not going to be the blackbuster year that 2024 was with revenue. That was an anomaly. We're not gonna have an eclipse every year, nor are we gonna have Taylor Swift in town. So those things really uh made a different outcome for 2024. And 2025, I feel like our staff and Andy and all our leadership team, well, really everybody has done a great job looking at costs throughout the year, as everybody on the board knows the budget process isn't just something that we kind of start working on in July and put together for August. Um staff's work very hard throughout the year. Um last year I started meeting with visit Indy with Andy to talk about their budget, and we did that again this year. They receive most of their funds, 90% of them from us, and we receive our funds from the various people, not just citizens in Indiana, but um tax people that come in and use our venues, so it's taxpayers' money, it's public money, and that's a special trust that we call for everyone. So appreciate uh the candor and the meetings with Leonard and his team last year and again this year. Um Nick Terrell and I also meet with our senior budget staff and and Andy in preparation for this meeting, and I want to express my appreciation to Tim, Hart, and Caroline for all the time they have taken throughout the year explaining and going through these meetings with us, and we really appreciate all the hard work that goes into managing expenses year in year out, and that's been very challenging with the Sydney Hotel and the convention center expansion this year. So thank you, Andy, for all your good work. I think you've got a couple things. Thank you. Yeah, I just want to sort of remind folks, um, especially if there's uh folks watching or don't know much about um CI the CIB. The CIB obviously is uh the major funder for and uh manager for the largest venues um that attract visitors to Marion County and the state of Indiana. Um Lucas Royal Stadium Convention Center, uh Gambridge Field House, Victory Field. Um and uh also you know we as Marcy mentioned um do fund visit India and they do an incredible job best in the business about making sure that the that our venues and the hotels um that are connected to the venues and surrounding um all of us downtown and throughout the county are full and um they do an outstanding job and resulting in you know just to make it clear 47,000 jobs just in Marion County, and that translates to about 1.8 or 1.8 billion dollars in wages just in Marion County. Um about three point eight billion dollars of visitor spending just in Marion County people coming to Indianapolis, dropping off their money and leaving which we appreciate and that generates for the state and the city um about 300 million dollars in tax revenue again just from Marion County. We say this to to sort of just highlight that when we spend this money, it is important um in that it really does facilitate an entire industry and that relies on it, and um you know it's our our job to keep uh reinvesting the money that we do receive from the state and from the city back into this industry and perpetuating it and growing, and that's our job. So um this budget does that again. There's lots to talk about in this budget. Um I'm gonna let Tim, who unfortunately for Tim, but excitingly for his son, is dropping his son off at um college right now. So thank you, Andy. Um 2026 budget, um, revenues total 212 million dollars. Uh that is down 10% or 24 million dollars from the 2025 budget. Um the expenses total 247 million dollars, which is down 9% or 25 million dollars from the 25 budget. Um that gives a bottom line or net amount of a negative 35 and a half million dollars. Um that is about a million dollars better or higher uh than the 2025 budget. Um that negative number, I want to remind you every year I talked about it, but um there's kind of a threefold deck um causes that to be a negative number every year. Um, one is that it's what I call the appropriations budget, and what that is is that we build in contingency or um some funds there to ensure that we can take advantage of opportunities that um may come up, such as concerts that afford us the ability to uh put money up front so that we can um do events um quickly and we have the funds there so that we can make the money in the end. Um also if there are any unforeseen major repairs, um that we can act quick enough to get those repaired um so events can continue as um expected. Um so we need those funds appropriated in the budget so that we don't have to go back to the city county council to ask for additional preparations, which may take um some time to get that done. So we put that in the budget. Um if they if we don't need them, we're not gonna use them, um, but they're included in that budget. Um second thing is just the ebb and flow of abnormal expenses, and I always relate it to your household. Um if you have a furnace go out, you know, that that's a pretty significant um expense that you're gonna have, but you don't have it every year.

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