Travis County hears briefing on Expo Center condition, ownership and $9 million earmark; no action taken

Travis County Commissioners Court on April 3 received a staff briefing on the future of the Travis County Exposition Center, a multi‑building event site on Walter E. Long Park that hosts Rodeo Austin and other events. The presentation described the site’s lease and ownership history, revenue and expense patterns, immediate infrastructure needs and a FY25 capital earmark staff recommends using for critical repairs. After questions and a closed‑session legal discussion, the court returned and said no action would be taken that day.

The Expo Center—built in the 1980s and located about 20 minutes from downtown Austin—sits on City of Austin parkland. Rodeo Austin originally built the improvements and entered a 50‑year lease in 1983; that lease was assigned to Travis County in 1989. Under current lease terms the land and improvements are slated to revert to the City of Austin in December 2033. County staff told the court that Capital Metro acquired a portion of the site in 2022 and that a 2024 settlement payment from CapMetro significantly increased Expo Center revenue for that year.

Amy McWhorter, managing director for economic and strategic planning, and facilities staff said the county operates the site out of a special revenue fund (the Texas Exposition and Heritage Fund) and that operating revenues have generally covered personnel and day‑to‑day expenses. However, staff said the fund has not been sufficient to cover needed capital repairs. Staff outlined recent and planned facility projects: a chiller replacement completed in October 2024, a cooling tower replacement beginning in April 2025, and a full replacement of the Banquet Hall HVAC scheduled to begin in June 2025. Facilities also reported work to install an external generator docking station (a project delayed by parts and expected to finish later this summer).

Staff provided several financial figures during the briefing: per the Rodeo Austin lease, the county received $225,000 in cash rent in 2024 (up from $178,000 previously), plus about $30,000 in in‑kind services and reimbursement of utilities; total county receipts associated with the rodeo in 2024 were reported as about $278,000. The Expo Fund also received roughly $1.6 million in 2024 from a CapMetro settlement related to parcel acquisition. County staff said the 10‑year countywide facility assessment lists about $26.4 million in total capital needs at the Expo Center; staff prioritized roughly $14.5 million of that as the most critical work needed to keep the facility safe and operational. The FY25 adopted budget includes a roughly $9.0 million CAR earmark for immediate repairs; staff reported about $720,000 of that earmark has already been drawn to begin the Banquet Hall HVAC project. Between 2023 and 2025 the county has earmarked about $14 million in CAR funds for the site, of which about $5 million has been spent to date. (Staff described these as short‑term, safety and systems repairs rather than aesthetic upgrades.)

Commissioners and staff discussed the county’s financial exposure given the lease reversion to the city in 2033. Judge Andy Brown and others asked whether capital injections at this scale are appropriate if ownership will revert, and whether revenue or other long‑term funding sources are available. Staff noted that voters approved in 2019 a county referendum authorizing the county to collect a 2% hotel‑occupancy/venue tax for Expo improvements, but the presentation said the City of Austin currently collects the full 2% and the revenue is not available to the county because of that collection and the city’s convention center commitments. Staff listed considerations for the court, including whether to pursue hotel/venue tax access or ownership changes; assessing the Expo Center’s role as an emergency‑services site; evaluating cost‑benefit of continued repairs versus alternatives; and deciding whether to approve use of the $9 million FY25 CAR earmark to fund critical infrastructure.

Staff emphasized the Expo Center’s operational role: it hosts an array of events (Rodeo Austin is the largest and, according to Rodeo Austin’s own study cited in the briefing, had an estimated 2024 economic impact of $80 million) and has been used for county emergency operations, vaccine and testing events and water and brush‑pickup distribution during emergencies. Facilities said they are managing bookings on a year‑to‑year basis rather than offering multiyear contracts so the county can retain flexibility for construction or maintenance closures.

After questions the court went into executive session under the “consultation with attorney” exception to discuss legal details of the lease and funding. The court returned and Judge Brown said, “We discussed item 1. We’re not taking any action on that today.” No formal motions or votes were taken at the April 3 meeting; staff said they expect a future agenda item to ask the court to approve use of some portion of the CAR earmark to complete critical infrastructure work.

County staff flagged community and equity considerations during discussion, noting that the Expo Center is one of the larger multipurpose facilities available to residents in Northeast Travis County and is used for events that serve underserved and outlying communities. Commissioners asked staff to provide more detailed tallies of interim repairs and a longer‑term cost‑benefit analysis comparing continued investment with alternative approaches ahead of any decision on larger expenditures or ownership changes.

The court did not take action on item 1; staff will return with follow‑up information and potential agenda items for future consideration.