Fort Worth made clear Thursday that no further grants from the state with municipal backing will be awarded to the National Cutting Horse Association events at the Will Rogers complex until the equestrian group recalculates and resubmits applications to the Texas Major Event Trust Fund between 2009 and 2011.
Apparently at stake are grants totaling $1.6 million from the state fund for the NCHA's 2013 Summer Spectacular and Super Stakes competitions, according to the state comptroller's office, which manages the fund. It's not clear if a grant of $2.16 million from the state for the 2012 Futurity, to be paid in fiscal 2013, has been released to the group.In a Feb. 21 letter, city auditor Darlene Allen said an economic impact consultant hired by the NCHA had made an unintentional mathematical error that inflated the number of competitors in a 2008 event by 1,132. The mistaken figure was used in grant requests for the next three years.The consultant, a retired Texas Christian University professor named Gerald Grotta, on Thursday admitted more than doubling the figure by mistake. The actual number of Summer Spectacular cutters that year was 1,073, Grotta said."All NCHA funding has been withheld until the issue is resolved," said Kirk Slaughter, the city's public facilities events director, in an email.City Hall is a player because it sends seed money to Austin to establish the funding, Slaughter explained. After the event concludes, the state submits to Fort Worth the total amount, including the city and state portion. The city then retains its seed money and transfers the state funding to the Fort Worth-based NCHA, he said.Allen did not say how much, if any, the overpayments may have amounted to, but the NCHA's former executive director, Alan Steen, alleged that it was $250,000.Grotta told the Star-Telegram he is trying to determine how much his error may have led to the NCHA receiving bigger state and city grants than justified."The accidental overstated contestant numbers were from the 2008 Summer Spectacular," Slaughter said. "Those numbers may have influenced the 2009-2011 results, as the state uses a three-year averaging for the NCHA events. Once the updated 2008 economic impact is submitted to the state, there will be an understanding of the impact of any overstated contestants."Beutenmiller disclosed Thursday that the group and its economic impact consultant were reviewing all numbers for events dating back to 2006."NCHA is looking forward to the review by the state, and is confident the review will demonstrate the value of these events to the City of Fort Worth and the state," Beutenmiller added in an email.Steen's claim prompted the city and the state's major event fund to scrutinize the cutters' records. Steen settled a lawsuit with the NCHA but said he stood by his allegations. These included doubts that lightning had destroyed computer records, which Allen later determined had actually happened.The issue comes at a time when Texas legislators are scrutinizing METF funding of sporting events while the NCHA has been grappling with leadership turnovers and rifts within its membership.NCHA filings to the Internal Revenue Service show it received $1 million in government grants in 2009, $1,684,478 in 2010 and $2,069,478 in 2011. The funding is a fraction of its $22 million budget, but easily covered all staff salaries. Beutenmiller did not respond when asked how much of the grants came from Austin's major events fund.Allen said that Grotta has been asked to recalculate his economic impact studies using the correct numbers for revised applications to the state.Barry Shlachter, 817-390-7718Twitter: @bshlachterHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
