Source Walkthrough

The single most important trajectory figure. Net position is the governmental accounting equivalent of equity — total assets minus total liabilities. A $38.5M annual decline means the organization's financial position is deteriorating at about $3.2M per month. This matches the figure on the financials page.

2023 total operating revenue was $47.1M. Adding $11.6M brings 2024 to $58.6M — confirmed by Statement of Revenues (p.15). The 25% growth is real but from a still-recovering base; even with growth, revenue covers only 46% of operating expenses.

These are the two lodging tax streams. "Regular" is the 7% rate on hotel rooms in the City of Seattle. "Extended" is the 2.8% rate on hotel rooms in King County outside Seattle city limits. Total lodging tax received by the PFD in 2024: $99.9M. The KC extended portion ($6.4M) represents 6.8% on top of the Seattle stream — a meaningful secondary source that grew 13% year-over-year.

This is the audited document's event count. The annual report (Pass 2) reports 171 events and 444,202 attendees using a different counting methodology — events include differently classified categories. The audited figure is the one tying to financial statement activity.

Source: bar chart image (p.6) — transcribed manually

This chart (an image, not extractable by PDF text tools) shows the COVID collapse and recovery trajectory. 2020–2021 were essentially shutdown years (28–30 events). The 2022 reopening brought 145 events; 2023 added the Summit and jumped to 160. 2024 reached 200 — the figure cited in the p.5 text. The 2024 attendee count (425,663) matches the prose on p.5 exactly, cross-validating the image transcription.

Total cash and near-cash: ~$117M. The majority is restricted — encumbered for construction holdbacks, debt service reserves, or other specific purposes. The organization cannot freely use restricted funds for operating shortfalls. The $25M CEO reserve figure refers to the specific operating reserve balance, not total cash.

The financials page states $1.9B in bonds outstanding. The audited statements show $1,874,528,448 noncurrent + $15,430,475 current = ~$1.89B total. Rounding to $1.9B is accurate. Note: long-term debt decreased from $1,894,868,231 in 2023 — principal payments of approximately $20.3M were made in 2024.

The operating reserve dropped from $41.7M to $16.3M — a $25.4M draw in one year. This is the sharpest single-year reserve decline in the data and deserves direct attention. It is not the $38.5M annual net position decline (which is mostly depreciation); it is actual cash drawn from a specifically restricted fund. The debt service reserve also fell sharply, from $13.9M to $6.1M. Combined restricted reserves dropped from $55.6M in 2023 to $22.4M in 2024.

The CEO stated "about $25M" in reserves in February 2026 — four months after the audited 2024 close date. The $22.4M year-end 2024 figure ($16.3M operating + $6.1M debt service) could round to "about $25M," or the reserve may have partially recovered during 2025. The 2025 audit (expected May 2026) will clarify.

Food service ($38.3M) is the largest line — bigger than building rent, parking, and facility services combined. Parking revenue from three downtown garages ($4.1M total, 2,150 stalls) is far smaller than its physical footprint suggests. Facility services ($6.0M) covers AV, electrical, and tech contractors where the District takes 30–50% of gross revenue, retaining the rest with the contractor.

Cash operating costs (everything except depreciation) sum to $75.0M — which is exactly the annual report's "Total operating expenses" figure. Add $52.9M depreciation and you get the audited $128.0M. The financials page now shows both the subtotal and the full audited figure.

This is the number that matters for the balance sheet and net position trajectory. Revenue of $58.6M minus expenses of $128.0M = −$69.4M. The financials page stated "−$69.4M operating loss (audited)" — confirmed. Note: this loss is before lodging tax revenue, which is classified as nonoperating revenue because it's a tax, not earned through operations.

The audited actual: $93.5M Seattle, $6.4M King County. Total $99.9M in 2024. Cash received matches accrual almost exactly — lodging tax is collected and remitted with minimal lag, making it a stable and predictable revenue stream. Both streams grew in 2024 (Seattle +12%, KC +13%), reflecting continued hotel market recovery post-pandemic.

The financials page uses ~$75M for interest expense — confirmed. The Build America Bonds (BAB) subsidy is a federal program that rebates a portion of interest to government issuers; the PFD received $5.0M back, reducing net interest cost to ~$70M. This subsidy is not explicitly shown on the financials page.

Net change: −$38.5M for 2024. Combined with the 2023 change (−$35.0M from restated figures), the two-year decline is ~$73.5M. The financials page states "net position declining $35–38M/year" — confirmed at the high end for 2024.

Total cash debt service: $14.8M principal + $69.5M interest paid = $84.3M gross ($79.3M net of BAB subsidy). Note: the $75.1M interest figure on the income statement is the accrual expense; the cash flow statement shows $69.5M actually paid in 2024. At the 2024 lodging tax baseline of $99.9M, bond coverage is ~1.19× gross — the tax stream exceeds gross cash debt service by about $15.6M. The Build America Bonds subsidy is a federal program that rebates a portion of interest to qualifying government issuers; the PFD received $5.0M back in 2024.

Cash basis matches accrual basis almost exactly ($99.885M vs $99.885M). Lodging tax is collected and remitted with minimal lag — the District receives it on roughly the same schedule it's collected. Good indicator that lodging tax revenue is stable and predictable.

Operating revenues match the audited statements exactly: $58,608,665. The annual report is not fabricating its revenue figures. The divergence is entirely on the expense side: $75.0M (annual report) vs. $128.0M (audited). The difference is $52.9M — which is depreciation.

The annual report discloses the exclusion — it's not hidden. But a reader who doesn't know to look for this footnote will see "$16.4M operating loss" and miss the $52.9M depreciation load. The disclosure is technically present; the presentation is structured to minimize the audited loss. The financials page uses the audited figure precisely to correct for this framing.

The audited document states 200 events and 425,663 attendees. The annual report says 171 events and 444,202 attendees. Both are from the same organization for the same year. The difference likely reflects how "events" are counted — the annual report uses a different classification methodology (per the footnote about Emerald City Comic Con and PAX WEST reclassification in 2022). Attendance differences may reflect different counting windows or methodology. Neither number is wrong; they're using different definitions.

The PFD tracks room nights attributable to its events. Seattle's hotel market had approximately 43,230 rooms across all chain scales as of 2015 (HVS, In Focus: Seattle, WA); supply has grown since, with Visit Seattle reporting +6% since 2019 alone, putting current supply likely above 48,000 rooms. At ~69% annual occupancy, that yields roughly 12M+ room nights of market demand per year. The SCC's 367,375 attributable room nights represent approximately 3% of total Seattle market demand. For comparison, San Francisco's Moscone Center — roughly 3× larger by exhibit space — generates ~663,000 room nights, or about 7% of that city's hotel market. The structural observation: Seattle hotel guests pay a 7% lodging tax that flows to the PFD, yet the facility it funds accounts for roughly 3% of the rooms filled. The tax is a subsidy from the broad hotel market to a specific economic use — the convention center's argument being that its room nights are disproportionately high-value (international conferences, peak-week fills) even if numerically small. A precise current figure awaits an updated room inventory count.