![]() The most recent payment was received on July 16, 2013, and the port authority has sent four invoices since then, Foreman said. When that debt hadn’t been paid by late 2012, the two groups worked out a new payment plan. The money OEAA borrowed from the port authority was supposed to be paid back by December 2011. It has also contributed to community projects such as the new ice arena, whitewater features on Buck Creek and a statue of boxer Davey Moore. The initial mission was to finance major economic development and infrastructure projects in Springfield. The port authority was created in 2009 and received $1.5 million from the Ohio Department of Economic Development. ![]() After four years the OEAA still owes about $60,650 including interest, according to port authority Chairman Jim Foreman. When the property tax bill was discovered, the port authority stepped in with a $70,000 taxpayer-funded loan. “This facility has paid the fair board, in camping fees and building rental fees, well over $300,000 since we’ve been here.” “The money that we have saved the fair board in tents alone is incredible,” Maine said. The board will get it’s money, Maine said, and the amount currently owed pales in comparison to the sum the center has paid over the past decade. “It’s something the fair board and the Champions Center are trying to work out.” But as of last week the OEAA owed the board somewhere between $17,000 and $26,000. The campsite fees are an issue that is being worked out, according to fair board Executive Director Allan Hess. The association, which operates the expo center at the Clark County Fairgrounds on Laybourne Road, is currently behind on numerous bills, despite a full schedule of summer events. The OEAA has a history of financial woes, starting in 2009 when it was discovered the nonprofit had been denied tax-exempt status due to a paperwork error and owed more than $684,000 in taxes dating back to 2004. “Every show lost money from what it did the year before,” he said. The harsh winter weather - which in total cost the center more than $127,000 - has contributed to its financial problems, said Ohio Equine Agricultural Association President Fred Maine. The center hasn’t made any payments on a taxpayer-funded loan from the Port Authority of Springfield in almost a year, and is several months behind on its payments for campground fees to the fairgrounds, officials with both organizations said. Weather-related cancellations and high natural gas bills put the Champions Center further into a financial hole this winter as the expo center continues to pay down a hefty property tax bill. $127,000: Winter weather-related costs and lost revenue between December and March
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