With a 3-2 vote, Travis County commissioners on Tuesday narrowly cleared The Republic of Texas Bike Rally, or ROT Rally, and Heat Wave Car Show to move forward with contract negotiations for their annual summer shows. The events have been held at the Travis County Exposition Center for decades. Both groups had multiyear contracts that expired this year, said Randle Jackson, division manager at the Exposition Center. When offered new contracts with higher rates approved by the commissioners in 2015, organizers became unresponsive, he said. Meanwhile, Travis Central Appraisal District, or TCAD, had proposed to rent the banquet hall facility at the Exposition Center from May 13-Aug. 16, 2019 for appraisal contest hearings. “We've put staff in a near impossible situation," Commissioner Jeffrey Travillion, who supported the vote, said. "We said we want this to be a regional entertainment center, and we want it to make money. One one hand, we've got a solid, successful event that has been operating for 24 years and is very popular and people want it, but the rate at which the third party vendor comes in doubles the amount of money that the first vendor is offering. Now, we’ve got a quandary." TCAD's proposed contract, which was voted down by commissioners today, conflicted with the dates for 24th annual ROT Rally, proposed to be held June 13-16, 2019. TCAD’s contract also conflicted with Heat Wave Car Show’s 30th annual event, proposed for July 26-28, 2019. "I feel that we are punishing a proposer that played by the rules and we are rewarding a proposer who went around our staff and our procedures," County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, who opposed the vote, said. "We are likely to see that more [as a result]." With the direction from the court today, county staff will work with organizers from Heat Wave and ROT Rally on contracts for the 2019 events.