Committee accepts update on convention center expansion but flags signage, tariff and timeline risks

The Budget and Innovation Committee on July 1 accepted and filed an administrative report updating the proposed expansion and modernization of the city's convention center, voting 5-0 to record the report while continuing to press staff for clearer cost and revenue certainty.

The report, presented to the committee as an update rather than a final project approval, summarized value-engineering work, revenue assumptions tied to digital signage and remaining schedule and tariff risks that staff said must be resolved before the council decides whether to proceed.

City staff said the update grew out of direction given in April to return with a focused assessment of revenue options, operating-cost reductions, value-engineering opportunities and outstanding project risks. “We were instructed in April to return with ... options for increasing revenue, reducing annual operating costs, financial mechanisms and substantial known risks,” said Ben Cejas, an assistant who introduced the report.

Staff said the value-engineering review began with more…