Montgomery County officials were given estimates months ago that the Fillmore, a massive music hall planned in downtown Silver Spring, would far eclipse the $8 million bill expected to be handed to taxpayers. Yet, they didn’t reveal the final price until after the venue received final approval and they devoted another $3.3 million to the rock club in recent weeks.
Top brass in County Executive Ike Leggett’s administration never disclosed the likely overages, which were identified in subpoenaed records obtained by The Washington Examiner. The documents show that construction alone was expected to cost roughly $7.5 million, in addition to the multimillion-dollar engineering and so-called “soft costs.”
For example, a February estimate by developers listed just the construction price at $7.43 million. And a December projection put the total budget for the project at $10.3 million, the records show.
Even with the paper trail, officials said they didn’t have a clear picture of the Fillmore’s cost until recent weeks. At that point, executive officials devoted another $2.66 million — without telling the County Council — from the recreation department’s capital budget. The rest is expected to be absorbed by tenant, Live Nation Inc.
“That’s the first time we saw the total budget estimate,” said David Dise, director of the county’s Department of General Services. He dismissed the previous projections as “bits and pieces.”
The estimates were released after I.M.P., the Bethesda concert promoter that owns D.C.’s 9:30 Club, sued Maryland officials, arguing there were no reliable cost projections for the 2,000-person-capacity club. A cost analysis was one of the conditions of receiving $4 million in state money.
Regardless of the inflated price tag, some say the county shouldn’t pay another penny.
Under the lease signed with Live Nation in January 2008, the concert giant was expected to assume any cost above the $8 million paid between the state and county.
“The public investment in this is limited to the $8 million, said Chief Administrative Officer Timothy Firestine during a council hearing in 2008. “So, if there are additional cost requirements beyond that, those will be the responsibility of Live Nation. And we’ve made it clear that we are not putting any more than $8 million into the deal.”
Yet, on the heels of filling a $1 billion budget shortfall, executive officials devoted millions more to the music hall.
And some County Council members say they were misled about the price tag.
“They knew they were feeding us old estimates,” said Councilman Marc Elrich, D-at large. “What they gave us just wasn’t credible.”
Councilman Roger Berliner, D-Potomac, added: “Certainly, it was never my expectation that the county would be ponying up more subsidies for the largest monopoly provider in the world.”
