Fiesta de la Flor is the largest festival Corpus Christi has seen in years, but financial records show the expense to taxpayers is covered by a small margin.
The festival that honors the late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez barely broke even the year it began. The two-day festival ended up costing taxpayers 632,656, and after all the bills were paid, it brought in a profit of $13,834, according to the 2015 IRS Form 990 filed by the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau.
It’s a profit that is split with the Selena Foundation. 6 Investigates has done stories in the past about the Selena Foundation’s tax exempt status, which was recently restored after being revoked by the IRS.
The festival is paid for by the CVB, which largely is funded by city hotel tax revenues. Festival organizers have said the event has a economic impact estimated at more than $10 million dollars. The festival is in its 4th year. Only the 2015 tax documents were available.
