On June 1st, Wisconsin State Fair Park released their response to last year's legislative audit of the park.

There's no mention of the Racing Committee that was reportedly going to be formed to explore ways to bring racing back to the Milwaukee. However, there is a new Land/Property Committee that has been formed. The newly formed committee will focus on the future vision of the Milwaukee Mile, as well as other areas of the park. The new committee is also condering a potential multi-phased study in 2019 to assess the Milwaukee Mile acreage, site analysis, perimeter space and programming considerations, development assessment, architectural designs and implementation recommendations. This study is expected to cost between $150,000-$300,000.

The response also includes the following:

"When future prospects or endeavors emerge in the racing industry, we will certainly consider whether they make financial sense and if capital investments in the racetrack are warranted."

Read the full response here:

Wisconsin State Fair Park Audit Response

On Friday, January 5th, the Wisconsin Joint Legislative Audit Committee released a long awaited report detailing the operations State Fair Park from mid-2013 through mid-2017.

The report called out the State Fair Park agency for poor record keeping and inconsistent procurement procedures. In addition, the report found that State Fair Park does not have a comprehensive, long-term plan for assessing the condition of its primary grounds and facilities or a formal plan for the future use of the Milwaukee Mile racetrack.

Read the Full Report (PDF)

Track Revenue Down

The Milwaukee Mile, which hasn't hosted a major league race since 2015, continues to generate revenue for State Fair Park through a variety of uses including racing clubs, driving schools, charitable events and other private events. The track generated $286,400 in revenue during the 2016-17 fiscal year. That's down from $487,100 generated during the 2012-13 fiscal year.  The decrease is largely due to the lack of major racing events, which generated an average of $102,000 per event in previous years.

In addition to revenue generated exclusively by on track activities, the Milwaukee Mile is heavily used during Wisconsin State Fair. The grandstand is used for the main stage headliner acts during the fair, and the track itself is used for parking 3,000 cars per day. However, for a variety of reasons, State Fair Park was unable to determine the amount of revenue specifically generated by the track during the fair.

The Wisconsin Joint Legislative Audit Committee held a public hearing and executive session on Thursday, March 30th to discuss a possible audit of Wisconsin State Fair Park. Following the hearing and executive session, the proposed audit was recommended for passage. Based on the passage, it's likely that the Legislative Audit Bureau will conduct an audit of WSFP in the coming months.

While the exact scope of the proposed audit has yet to be determined, it will likely examine all aspects of the management of State Fair Park. This includes the performance/operation of the Milwaukee Mile.

The Wisconsin State Fair Park Board searched far and wide for a new chief executive officer and discovered that the right person was already on the job.

Kathleen O'Leary, the interim CEO, was named to lead State Fair Park Monday night after receiving unanimous approval from the 13-member board.

The selection of O'Leary as CEO came after three finalists met with the board for the $127,000-a-year position. The other finalists were Scott Gunderson, a former Republican lawmaker; and Rhonda Reese, general manager of Midwest Horse Fair.

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