A single seat on the 11-member board that will finance an expansion of the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center may be the last remaining hurdle to the $160 million project.

        Suburban interests dominate the Convention Facilities Authority, created under the state law that allows the city and county to raise hotel taxes to pay for the expansion, Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken said Thursday.

        “We don't want to fight with them every time we want to pour a yard of concrete,” Mr. Luken said.

        Under its current composition, the city can appoint only three seats on the board. Add a seat for the Chamber of Commerce and another for the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the city still can depend on only five of 11 votes. The remaining six are appointed by the county commission or suburban cities.

        Mr. Luken signed off on the authority's composition as early as February. But that changed when the county commissioners, in a 2-1 vote Wednesday, declined to guarantee the bonds financing the project if the hotel tax doesn't meet projections.

        “If you assume the risk, you should control the board,” Mr. Luken said. “This whole issue with the CFA goes away immediately if they guarantee half the debt,” Mr. Luken said.

        Still, the issue over the board is relatively minor — “inside baseball,” Mr. Luken called it. He said he hopes the county will allow the city some input into its appointments as part of a package of mostly technical changes to its contract with the county.

        Mr. Luken has called a special meeting of Cincinnati City Council for 4 p.m. Monday — the state deadline for the city to increase its hotel tax or miss its opportunity.

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