LVCVA says it will scale back spending for 2003

Friday, May 3, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority says it is taking a conservative approach to spending and revenues in its $177.5 million budget for the 2003 fiscal year.

The public-private city marketing entity on Thursday gave its board of directors its first look at the spending plan, which anticipates lower revenues and spends less for advertising, but gives employees an average 6 percent pay boost.

Proposed expenditures for the fiscal year are 4 percent below the 2002 budget, which had been revised downward after the downturn in tourism that occurred after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But the LVCVA also is projecting less revenue from its share of a 9 percent tax on hotel-room guests in 2003.

In a budget workshop, board members were told the entity expects tax revenue of $126 million in 2003. That's 8.6 percent less than the $137.9 million the LVCVA received in 2001, but 8 percent more than the $116.9 million anticipated in the revised current fiscal year.

The LVCVA has another major revenue source -- rental fees from the Las Vegas Convention Center -- which are expected to be up 26 percent to $29.3 million. It also expects to end the fiscal year with $8.7 million less cash on hand than it begins, meaning it will dip into some cash reserves in 2003.

The LVCVA plans to spend 8 percent less on advertising -- $55 million in 2003 compared with $59.6 million in the current fiscal year. Following the terrorist attacks, the board authorized an additional $10 million for advertising in a bid to attract visitors back to the city quickly.

Experts say the effort was largely successful, since Las Vegas' visitor statistics have rebounded faster than most other U.S. cities.