Lake County approves South Shore CVA levy and new Gary Air Show fund amid questions on vendor recapture

The Lake County Council on Nov. 1 approved the South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority’s proposed 2026 budget and tax levy and voted to create a new Gary Air Show fund, a move council members said will improve bookkeeping and keep sponsorship transactions separate from ongoing promotions spending.

South Shore CVA representatives told the council the air show was fully privately sponsored in 2025 and that the authority moved the event’s receipts and expenses into a separate fund to better track payments and contracts. Nicole Woolverton, the CVA’s chief financial officer, said the proposed 2026 allocation for the Gary Air Show is about $550,000 and that roughly $60,000 of this year’s cash will roll into the fund to secure acts and contracts for 2026. She said no innkeeper’s-tax dollars were used this year for the event.

Council members asked for more detail on economic outcomes. One member asked how many hotel rooms the event generated; CVA staff said they do not have an exact room-night figure but rely on analytics from a vendor (Datify) that estimates event attendance and tracks post-event spending patterns. The CVA cited a range of roughly 125,200 attendees from analytics and noted that many attendees went to nearby commercial areas, with Hobart and its mall named as a frequent post-event destination.

Councilors also raised concerns about vendor returns and long-term sustainability. A member said vendors must be able to recoup costs to ensure they continue participating; CVA staff replied most vendors return year to year and that the bulk of the air-show revenue derives from corporate sponsorships rather than onsite vendor fees. CVA staff said sponsors in 2025 included major regional companies and casinos and that sponsor packages (including VIP experiences) provide the event’s principal income.

Members asked about legal fees and other liabilities tied to the authority; the CVA replied there is a detailed legal-fee line in the budget (the CVA noted approximately $300,000 allocated for legal expenses in the current year) and said ongoing litigation depositions are near completion with possible court filings later in 2025 or 2026.

The council voted to suspend the rules and approve second reading at the meeting after discussion. The CVA representative said the state will review part of the convention center financing; if approved by the Indiana Finance Authority in December, work on the convention center could accelerate with a potential opening targeted in 2028.

What’s next: the CVA will finalize accounting details for the new fund and staff offered to provide hotel-room and economic-impact breakdowns to council members on request.