by:  Diane Benjamin

Allow me to set this up:

The City of Bloomington owns the Pepsi Ice Center.

I reported earlier the Pepsi Ice Center showed a profit:  http://blnnews.com/2013/10/15/how-much-does-the-pepsi-ice-center-cost-you/

The City of Bloomington own the Coliseum, but they handed it over to CIAM to manage.

The Pepsi Ice Center now has so many users they have to rent ice from the Coliseum.

Recap:  The City owns the Pepsi Ice Center and the Coliseum.  But, since CIAM manages the Coliseum, the City has to pay them to use the ice in their own building.  With me so far?

I sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the City for how much the City was charged for using their own ice. this is what I received:

November 2012 – $ 18,843.75

December 2012 – $ 22,500.00

January 2013 – $ 25,875.00

February 2013 – $ 22,231.25

March 2013 – $ 6,937.50

Total:  $ 96,387.50

Worse, the bill are made out to Parks and Recreation, not Pepsi Ice Center.  So, it looks like the Pepsi Ice Center may not be quite so profitable.  Worse yet, the Coliseum charges $250 per hour.  The Pepsi Ice center is less than that to rent – like for a party.  It’s around $200 per hour.

CIAM gets to keep 4% – $ 3855.50 for opening the doors and turning on the lights.  The expense involved doesn’t matter to CIAM because they are paid on the revenue, not the net.

Summary:

The Coliseum income looks better than it really is because the City is paying itself.

I wonder why they don’t just pay themselves enough to make the Coliseum look like it breaks even?

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