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Originally Posted by shivtim
^To be fair, I don't think any of us on this board knew about what was happening in 2010 when the GA state assembly changed the law so that the tax could only be used for the stadium/GWCC. And we're a group that follows this type of development/infrastructure news. I think it just wasn't picked up by the media or blogosphere, so it slipped right past us.
More accurately, they didn't extend the hotel tax yet, they just authorized the city of Atlanta to extend the tax only if it went toward a stadium. It's legally possible to change what the funding could be used for, but it would require an act of the GA congress. At this point, the tax has not yet been extended and can't be extended without the approval of city council.
That's my understanding at least! It's a complicated issue.
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Is that what really happened? My understanding was that they merely extended the life of the
existing tax with the requirement that the Falcons remain a part of the GWCC complex.
What's weird to me is that the state run GWCC has had control of this tax revenue which should have belonged to the city all along. Deal at least got that part right even though it was only done to pass off a political hot potato.
I found these details on Saporta Report
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To refresh the details, currently 39.3 percent of the 7 cents of hotel-motel taxes collected in the City of Atlanta and unincorporated Fulton County is earmarked to pay off the debt for the Georgia Dome.
In 2010, state legislature extended that provision for another 30 years for a new stadium as long as it was built on GWCCA property.
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Here's were the city stands to gain from being front and center on this deal.
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Since 2006, with only one exception, the tax has brought in at least $18 million a year. The exception was for fiscal year 2010, when it dipped down to $16.7 million.
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So over the life of the tax, it is highly probable that it will generate well over $500 million in revenue, enough to pay off the stadium bond
and fund some much needed infrastructure projects.
http://saportareport.com/blog/2013/0...-stadium-deal/