EL DORADO - The El Dorado Conference Center spent more than it took in last year, leaving a deficit of more than $350,000, officials said.
According to financial reports presented during a March 18 meeting of the South Arkansas Community College board of trustees, the conference center’s revenue for the year ending Dec. 31 was $331,538.51, while the expenses for the year were $683,591.55. The excess expense for the year totaled $352,053.04.
The college’s fiscal year ends June 30, but the conference center reports to the city on a calendar year, said Bruce Hankins, controller of financial reporting and special projects. The conference center and city have an agreement under which they have agreed to split the expenses in excess of $300,000 over revenue, Hankins said.
An invoice for about $26,000 will go before the City Council, Hankins said.
Most of the excess expenses came from contract services, $253,569.23, and $95,528.61 was attributed to maintenance and operations.
The number of events scheduled decreased from 315 in 2012 to 268 in 2013.
But conference center manager Barry Bagwell noted that the hours rented and number of attendees for 2013 increased from the previous year, with 2,212 hours and 40,039 attendees for 2013, compared with 1,710.5 hours and 36,450 attendees for 2012.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 03/25/2014