Hamilton County has committed too much money for two riverfront stadiums to help Cincinnati pick up the $335 million tab to expand the city's downtown convention center.

        That was the assessment Friday from a consultant hired to bring more convention space to Cincinnati.

        The expert, Jim Underwood, now recommends the city and Hamilton County create an agency and give it a checkbook to expand the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center.

        The agency — a convention center authority — would be similar to the newly created Port Authority with one important exception: the ability to assume debt.

        Creating such a group and allowing it to issue bonds would require the financial backing of Hamilton County and Cincinnati, leaving taxpayers on the hook for debt if the convention authority failed to pay.

        “You need to think about a vehicle in which to get this done,” Mr. Underwood told Mayor Charlie Luken's convention center task force Friday. “The structure you have now just doesn't work.”

        Mr. Underwood suggested the new government struc ture as a way to kick-start the stalled expansion efforts. Hamilton County has been skeptical of helping pay for the expansion because of its massive debt from Paul Brown Stadium and the Reds' Great American Ballpark and the belief that it wouldn't benefit as much as Cincinnati, which owns the convention center.

        Hamilton County Commissioner Tom Neyer Jr. said he will consider the convention authority concept. However, he still questions how to pay for the expansion.

        “At the end of the day, the funds have to come from somewhere,” said Mr. Neyer, who sits on the convention center task force. “If it's merely a front for other funding sources, why bother?”

        Mr. Underwood suggested the city of Columbus' Convention Facilities Authority as a model that Cincinnati could emulate. In that city, the convention authority leases the expanded convention center from Columbus and Franklin County and pays rent with a hotel/motel tax. The amount of rent equals the amount of the bond payment for the expansion.

        Task Force Chairman Dan Meyer said the Columbus concept should be considered.

        “Some type of structure is needed to make this thing work,” he said.        

Benefits to county
        Mr. Underwood also released figures showing that the county would see more financial benefits than the city should the center be expanded. The task force commissioned the study to prove to Hamilton County commissioners that county taxpayers would benefit from the expansion.

        The consultant said the convention center expansion would generate $146 million each year in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. That is a larger annual economic impact than the Aronoff Center, Cincinnati Zoo and new Bengals stadium combined.

        Hamilton County would reap $2.1 million each year in sales and hotel tax with an expansion vs. $1.2 million in hotel and earnings tax for Cincinnati.

        In October, Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin predicted the city's tax coffers would grow faster than the county's because more workers would be needed for the center. That means more earnings tax for the city. He added that the county planned to hire a University of Cincinnati economist to scrutinize the numbers.

        Mr. Dowlin couldn't be reached Friday, but Mr. Meyer said he shared some of the study's figures with him earlier this week.

        Task force members agree that they need to convince the county to contribute $50.8 million for the project before pursuing other funding sources. The county doesn't have $50.8 million in available bonding capacity, but creating a convention authority would alleviate the county's crunch by transferring the debt, Mr. Underwood said.

        The group is depending on a 1 percent restaurant tax to raise an estimated $65.8 million total over 30 years, the largest of a dozen financing sources identified by Mr. Luken's task force. That would require a change in state law, and expansion advocates don't want to approach Ohio lawmakers until the county agrees to help pay for the project.

        Another funding source would be $34.7 million from a countywide hotel tax increase.

        Cincinnati has committed $50.8 million in bonds to pay for the project. A city room-tax increase would raise $17.9 million, but it would take effect only after private businesses contribute $20 million. Delta Air Lines has earmarked another $29.9 million in exchange for naming rights.

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