State Products Mart Authority board members do not seem to understand the word “no” when trying to get the County Commission to be their partner in Celebration Arena.

Chairman Ed Monroe and Products Mart attorney Tom Caddell were back before commissioners this week asking them again to appoint a park and recreation board to oversee arena operations.

Products Mart has a deal to buy the 38-year-old covered arena at Priceville for $650,000 from a group of individuals who are primarily interested in keeping racking horse shows at the facility.

The agreement, however, is contingent on the county appointing a board to operate the arena, which has about 40 events a year.

County commissioners are rightly concerned about the possibility of the joint venture costing taxpayers. Under the deal, the Racking Horse Breeders Association of America officials would lease the arena for its events, pay no rent and keep all of the proceeds from its shows.

The new partnership would make its revenue from the other 35 or so events, none of which rivals the annual Racking Horse World Celebration in size.

In March, commissioners asked for more information, including a proposed operations budget. Monroe and Caddell, however, didn’t have that information when they showed up at the meeting this week, and commissioners voted down the recreation board.

Now, a June 30 meeting is supposedly set to do what Products Mart Authority board members should have already done — answer commissioners’ concerns about operating revenue.

The partnership could be good for Morgan County, but commissioners should not allow Products Mart Authority board members to dictate the terms.