Carl Isett and George McMahon summed differences of opinion on the proposed Expo Center project during a Wednesday meeting.
“We just have to be honest, they failed. They have failed to meet the obligation that we entered into,” said Isett, referring to a development agreement between the nonprofit Lubbock County Expo Center (LCEC) board and Lubbock County.
McMahon disagreed, strongly supporting LCEC.
“They’re not that far away, but they just need a little boost,” McMahon said.
Both are members of the Local Government Corporation (LGC) – formed to oversee the project and make a recommendation to county commissioners who have the final decision if the project planned for North University Avenue and North Loop 289 goes forward.
Voters in 2018 approved a hotel tax (and car rental tax) to fund a multipurpose arena. The nonprofit LCEC held a press conference last month, saying it was ready to present a plan to the LGC.
LubbockLights.com covered the LCEC $67 million proposal here. It called for the county to borrow roughly $32 in bonds, spend $10 million already set aside for the project and use donations and other revenue like naming rights to cover the rest.
It also called for the county to spend up to a million of hotel tax revenue to cover an anticipated operating loss every year and called for a loan from PlainsCapital Bank for up to $20 million.
The presentation to the LGC the day after the press conference was tense – with some LGC members feeling they’d been excluded from important information. Wednesday’s meeting was meant to resolve some of those concerns.
Other issues in Wednesday’s meeting were:
If changing plans from a larger project to the latest one – is there money to pay for new plans?
Need for better communication and urgency.
Changing the bank loan’s “term sheet” – to make sure the county doesn’t become responsible.
Is the project better at its current site or downtown?
LCEC chairman Randy Jordan was not at Wednesday’s meeting and did not want to comment on specifics.
“LCEC is working diligently to answer questions to move the project forward,” Jordan said.
Is there money to pay for new plans?
LCEC dropped a previous $92-million plan – opting to copy the Taylor Telecom Arena in Abilene, which has already been built.
That meant discarding the architecture and design work already been paid for and hiring a new firm, Parkhill, which did the Abilene facility.
Neal Burt, the county’s civil division chief, said some of the engineering work on drainage and roads could be reused.
“There was some usable information in there, for the future,” Burt said.
Ashley Cox, a civil attorney for the county, said, “I would hope that there’s some sort of, agreement drafted between LCEC and Parkhill.”
LGC member Mike Stevens wondered if LCEC has the money for that. He balked at the idea that County Commissioners might have to pay for new plans.
“The County Commissioners are going to have the most designed building in history. If the taxpayers pay both of those tickets, it just seems to be an extremely difficult pill to swallow,” Stevens said.
The LGC needs to know quickly if the LCEC can cover that cost, Stevens added
Cox said failing to get an expo center built would also be a bitter pill.
Urgency and communication
Multiple LGC members felt like they still didn’t have enough answers.
Cox met for a couple hours Tuesday with LCEC leaders including Jordan, she said.
“There is a sense of urgency,” Cox said.
She plans to create a checklist of what’s been done and what still needs to be done. She asked to appear on the agenda for the next LGC meeting on December 10.
“I would like the opportunity to at least communicate with the whole LGC board,” Cox said.
Burt said, “We have in our talks with Mr. Jordan and LCEC just said this could not keep spinning around with it going nowhere and have stressed the urgency.”
The term sheet
Not all members of the LGC had seen the term sheet of the proposed PlainsCapital loan in the November meeting. That caused some concern, with Jordan saying it’s a confidential document.
But on Wednesday, Cox said everyone can put off the term sheet for another day. She’s asking LCEC to go back to PlainsCapital for some changes.
“We’ve gone through [the term sheet] with the red pen and said nothing in this term sheet can encumber county assets,” Cox said.
State law does not allow the county to take out a conventional bank loan.
Burt said, “If someone were to welch on a $20 million loan, and the entity, the board, said, ‘I’m insolvent,’ that financial institution is going to go look at someone new [to collect the money].”
That cannot be the county, Burt insisted.
The county can borrow money by issuing bonds. During the meeting, lawyers called bond counsel said the county could borrow $32.1 million at the low end or up to $34.2 million at the high end.
Chances are good the county can issue tax exempt bonds with an estimated interest rate of 4.72 percent. If the county needs to instead issue taxable bonds, the rate goes up to an estimated 5.82 percent.
Expo Center’s future makes two pit stops this month – both in front of county oversight board
December 2, 2025
November 17, 2025
County oversight board withholds blessing for expo center, wanting more answers on financial issues
November 14, 2025
October 20, 2025
Future of Civic Center, Expo Center on line in City Council, Commissioners Court meetings
October 14, 2025
New law soon lets Lubbock raise money for Civic Center project
August 7, 2025
March 7, 2025
February 21, 2025
What about Downtown?
The city this year invited the county to consider putting an Expo Center on the same property as the Civic Center. The two sites could be jointly administered and thanks to some help from the Texas Legislature, the city of Lubbock has a way to raise millions of dollars for the joint project.
The city is authorized to create a Project Finance Zone and keep a portion of sales taxes with a 3-mile radius of the Civic Center that would otherwise go to Austin. It’s worth an estimated $121.7 million over 30 years.
The city could also increase its hotel tax and combine that money with the county’s revenue.
McMahon asked one of the bond counsel, Jason Hughes, if jointly managing the Civic Center and Expo Center is deal killer for the county’s bond.
Hughes answered, “Another party could certainly manage the facility if it were downtown.”
McMahon said, “You’re not helping me. I was hoping you would tell me that wasn’t possible.”
McMahon not only defended LCEC’s fundraising efforts, he fully supports LCEC’s desire to keep the project at North Loop 289 and North University.
“I mean, my gut feeling is that if they were to get started in actual construction, they could close that [fundraising] gap,” McMahon said.
George McMahan (left), Carl Isett (center, top) and Mike Stevens (lower right) during Wednesday’s LGC meeting. Credit: Staff photo.
LCEC said in the last meeting, if the bank loan goes through, there is enough money to make it all work. But Jordan repeatedly admitted over the last couple years, fundraising has not gone as well as hoped.
McMahon said, “I think you got a bunch of people telling you, ‘Yeah, yeah, let’s get this done. We’ll help you get the bond done.’ And then he [Jordan] goes back to these people. ‘All right, I’m ready for y’all’s help,’ Everybody flaked on him and disappeared.”
Isett still expressed frustration.
“I’m very frustrated that we have been doing this month after month, year after year. And we keep getting the same smoke blown our direction and nothing gets done. No action,” Isett said.
“I just feel like it’s not a good deal tomorrow. It’s not a good deal today,” Isett said.
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