The questions have continued to be asked about how the costs of the KFC Yum! Center will be paid for, inasmuch as the Center itself has not been generating enough revenue, to the point that the City Of Louisville had to pony up the maximum of $9.8, in order for bond holders to be paid. AEG Entertainment claims that revenue from concerts and other events is increasing. The large special Taxing District which surrounds the Center has not generated the revenue projected, but it is claimed that those revenues are increasing as well.
InsiderLouisville.com’s Terry Boyd did some actual reporting about the matter, including talking to Ed Glasscock, authority general counsel, and Jerry Hurt, a director at Louisville-based accounting firm Deming, Malone, Livesay and Ostroff and accountant for the Louisville Arena Authority. He has quite a bit of detail at the story posted last week. The take-away might be that this time last year, Moody’s downgraded the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority’s Louisville Arena Project Revenue Bonds to Ba2 from Baa3 – high risk junk bonds. They’re scheduled to revisit that bond rating shortly.