Shawnee County approves $279,403.57 year‑end subsidy for Stormont Vail Event Center over chair's objection

Shawnee County commissioners voted 2‑1 on Dec. 19 to provide $279,403.57 from the county contingency fund to cover a 2024 operating shortfall at the Stormont Vail Event Center.

The motion to approve the transfer was made by Commissioner Aaron Mayes and seconded by Commissioner Bill Rippon. Chair Kevin Cook recorded the lone dissent. The funding was described in the meeting agenda as "the remaining additional funding subsidy for the 2024 operational year in the amount of $279,403.57 to be funded from the Shawnee County contingency fund." The motion passed 2 to 1.

The request followed presentations from Kellen Sites, who identified himself as a representative of the Stormont Vail Event Center, and Jennifer Sauer, the county's financial administrator. Sites said the center fell short of budgeted revenue this year because several expected events did not contract or confirm and some live-event shows produced losses rather than the budgeted profits. "Most of our live event concerts, we were budgeting around a $23,000 to $28,000 profit on those shows. When they don't produce profit, it's a double hit to the budget," Sites said.

Jennifer Sauer explained the accounting rationale for drawing the money from contingency rather than general revenue. "The contingency fund is not a fund that rolls from year to year. It is a general fund," she said, adding that contingency balances reset when the fiscal year ends and that paying the 2024 shortfall from contingency places the expense in the correct fiscal year.

Public commenters pressed the commission over the subsidy. Ted Endsley, who said he was related to the late Ted Ensley, called the request "mismanagement" and urged the commission to reject the transfer. Another speaker, Carol Marple, told the commission she was frustrated by repeated county subsidies to the venue and asked whether the management firm has shared in any of the losses.

Commissioners pressed Sites about invoices and which payments were owed to the management firm, cited in the transcript as OVG 360, and whether the county is contractually obligated to pay each item on the invoices. Sites said "most" of the outstanding payments were to OVG 360 but that invoices also include utilities and other vendor charges; he said some vendor bills for December arrive in January. Commissioner Cook said those contractual obligations should be examined and warned that if the county sees a similar shortfall in 2025, it could be considered a breach of fiduciary duty.

Jennifer Sauer said that after this expenditure the county's contingency would be left at roughly $45,000 to $48,000 and that staff plan to consider a transfer of excess contingency balances to specified projects at the Dec. 30 meeting if warranted.

Votes at a glance from this meeting appear in the roundup below; the Stormont Vail subsidy appears there as an approved action.