Despite a record-setting flood and a tight economy, income and attendance were up and expenses down for the Vicksburg Convention Center and Vicksburg Auditorium in fiscal 2011, convention center executive director Larry Gawronski said Wednesday.

The report came one day after the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a new five-year agreement with VenuWorks to operate the convention center and the auditorium. VenuWorks, of Ames, Iowa, is a management company that has had a contract with the city to operate the convention center and auditorium since 2001.

Gawronski told the convention center’s Advisory Board Wednesday morning that the center finished the fiscal year with a $129,900 operating deficit, which was 48 percent lower than the projected $252,055. He said the deficit was the lowest in the convention center’s history.

The combined operating deficit for the convention center and auditorium, he said, was $294,416, about 53 percent less than the projected $451,274.

He said the center exceeded its projected $367,579 income by 12 percent, earning $423,337, while the auditorium’s 2011 income of $107,071 was 76 percent more than the projected $76,302.

Convention center expenses totaled $987,134, 5 percent less than the $1.03 million anticipated by the budget, while the auditorium’s operating deficit was 17 percent under the projected $199,219.

Looking at other revenue sources, Gawronski said the convention center’s 2 percent share of the city’s hotel/motel tax totaled $433,897, or 3 percent more than the projected $420,000, and food and beverage income was $103,827, about 10 percent over the projected $93,346.

He said the convention center receives a 25 percent commission on catered events, such as banquets and receptions, and 40 percent commission from the sale of concessions sold during events.

Despite losing 45 usage days because of the spring flood, Gawronski said, the convention center booked 127 events, totaling 185 usage days, a 23 percent increase over 2010, which had 115 events totaling 151 days. The auditorium, he said, had 74 events for 88 usage days.

The Mississippi River reached record heights in Vicksburg, cresting at 57.1 feet on May 19, 14.1 feet above flood stage and nine-tenths of a foot above the Great Flood of 1927. He said the flood forced many events to be canceled or rescheduled, and most of the rescheduled events were moved to August, September and October.

“That helped,” he said. “The events rescheduled in October came too late to help with the (2011) fiscal year, but they gave us a jump on 2012. The economy is recovering, and conferences and conventions are rebounding. Overnight stays are rebounding.”

Gawronski added local events also continue to fill some scheduling gaps and provide income.

He said the combined attendance for events at both locations from Oct. 1, 2010, to Sept. 30, 2011, was 83,010, which generated $3.07 million in direct costs, or money spent by event participants in the city, creating an economic impact for the city of $7.1 million.

He said the local economic impact is determined by assuming 60 percent of every dollar directly spent is recirculated through the local economy four times.

The auditorium and convention center will host several events as the holiday season approaches, with the Bryan Adams concert set for 8 p.m. Sunday at the auditorium. The show, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 11, was rescheduled after Adams became ill.

Other events include: Soul Blues Friday at the auditorium, Nov. 4; TNA Wrestling at the convention center, Nov. 19; the WBVG Caroling Contest at the convention center, Nov. 28 and 29, and Dec. 1, with the finals on Dec. 3; the musical The Forgotten Carols at the auditorium, Dec. 2; and breakfast with Santa, Dec. 3 at the convention center.

The new contract between the city and VenuWorks includes several provisions involving increased participation by minority-owned businesses both locations, improvements to the auditorium and more culturally diverse programming at both locations.