Schaumburg sets 2009 convention center budget

Schaumburg's Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center hasn't escaped the effects of a weak economy, but it's still attracting business and helping stimulate other spending in the village, officials say.

The village board has approved the 2009 budget for both Schaumburg-owned operations, even as it held off from approving a new 10-year capital improvement plan from Renaissance staff.

Village Manager Ken Fritz said local officials simply need more time to consider the plan they've received only recently.

Until now, the 2-year-old enterprise has been considered too new to warrant a long-term capital plan. In the years ahead, it will be gradually adjusted.

The hotel and convention center's operating budget considers costs and revenue separate from the taxes that help sustain it. Those include amusement, telecommunications, food and beverage and hotel room taxes.

"Could it stand on its own and pay its own debt? No," Fritz said. "It's still very successful. From our perspective, based on the goals of the village board, we're doing well."

Among the evidence Fritz cites is that the hotel is the most used stop on the trolley system that serves the village's business district.

The Renaissance's revenues for 2009 are estimated at $54.3 million, a 6.2 percent decrease from the 2008 budget. Expenses are budgeted at $56.5 million, a 2.7 percent decrease.

Remaining construction expenses for 2009 total $2.3 million. Of this, $1 million is for an electronic sign still proposed alongside I-90.

Projected revenues for 2008 are now expected to be $55.3 million, or 4.5 percent below what was budgeted. The village expects to end 2008 with an operating loss of $2.2 million, without tax support.

But tax revenue is projected to be $6.5 million, or 3.5 percent above budget.

While hotel taxes have fallen, other taxes are expected to help counterbalance that. Village amusement tax income received a boost this year in part from the opening of Legoland at Streets of Woodfield.

Tom Robertson, Renaissance general manager, said 2009 bookings do signify a real slowdown from the momentum the facilities built up even before opening in 2006.

At the same time, bookings are up for 2010, which Robertson sees as a sign that event organizers have some confidence that the economic slump could be short-term.

In this slowdown, conventions that have proved the most resilient are those for small, niche industries such as glass and turf grass.

It's been the bigger consumer shows that have taken a major hit, Robertson said.

While the Renaissance hasn't performed as well as village officials would've liked this year, it did well enough for now, Fritz said. He said it's unfair to judge the enterprise's success by the performance of just one year.

Still, the financial plan will demand better years ahead as the costs of the aging facilities rise, Fritz said.