For this month’s print edition of FrontBurner (which is amazing, btw), I propose that the State Fair be booted from Fair Park. The park’s very valuable 277 acres will never be developed into a year-round amusement and entertainment zone for Dallas unless the obstacle created by the Fair’s three-month set-up, opening, and take-down is removed.
My argument has nothing to do with the financial situation of the State Fair. However, in the course of conversations with civic leaders, I found that the State Fair is universally regarded as a big money maker. This is an impression that its president, Errol McCoy, tries mightily to foster. But the fact is, the State Fair is a money-loser and has been for some time.
Here’s an example of the spin that comes out of the Fair organization. Last May, News reporter Brooks Egerton got teed off at McCoy because he wouldn’t answer questions about its profitability. After Egerton ran his post, McCoy seemingly relented, and the next day Egerton ran this item:
He called to say that the expenses were about $33.7 million, with revenue of about $40 million.
According to the organization’s 2008 IRS filing, McCoy miscalculated revenue by $3.7 million and underestimated expenses by $3.3 million. McCoy’s numbers would have meant a $6.3 million profit.  The Fair actually posted a $686,401 loss.
McCoy’s public statement either showed little grasp of his own finances or was a deliberate attempt to mislead. By the way, 2008’s loss was nothing unusual. The Fair  lost $5.5 million in 2007. The Fair has run cumulatively in the red for the last seven years.
As I said, the Fair’s viability as a business organization has nothing to do with my argument. However, I wonder if any member of the State Fair’s 55-member board of directors is aware of McCoy’s misleading impression or even of the true financial state of the Fair. I think most non-profit organizational specialists would note that a 55-member board essentially means no board at all. So who is in charge at the money-losing State Fair of Texas?
