Quote:
Originally Posted by Immovable_Media
Two interesting articles regarding the new Falcons Stadium:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/8/21/pay-to-play.html
"Even team owners building new stadiums have begun seeking annual operating subsidies. Earlier this year, when Atlanta agreed to provide billionaire Atlanta Falcons owner (and Home Depot founder) Arthur Blank with $200 million in hotel tax money to help pay for a new stadium to replace the 20-year-old Georgia Dome, it tacked on an additional bonus: Any leftover hotel tax money after the first $200 million would spill over into a so-called waterfall fund that Blank could then tap for any future maintenance or operating expenses. Estimated cost: an extra $300 million. The Atlanta deal is a perfect example of how subsidies are increasingly buried deep within lease agreements that are seldom if ever carefully scrutinized by politicians or the media.
Even public money with strings attached could go to fill other city needs, say budget watchdogs. Ryan Splitlog of Common Cause Georgia, a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens' lobby, notes that the money going to the Falcons comes from hotel-motel tax revenue that is designated for promoting tourism and convention business. "I think you could paint with a pretty wide brush stroke when talking about what that means for the city of Atlanta," he says, suggesting fixing the "atrocious" roads and sidewalks in the blocks surrounding the convention center campus as one example. "You could talk about infrastructure projects that improve the quality of life for people who actually live here. I think the public would get much more behind something like that.""
http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2013/03/18...s-counting-hidden-subsidies-554-million/
"Falcons stadium cost to taxpayers, counting hidden subsidies: $554 million" |
That is sort of misleading. The Aljazeera article says it would cost an estimated EXTRA $300 million, but where the get that information from, the Field of Schemes website (which obviously has no agenda), claims that the Falcons and the new stadium (not Blank) could receive UP TO $300 million. So really, its not an extra $300 million, but by their logic an extra $100 million. But its more complicated than that. A certain portion (39.3%) of the hotel-motel tax, the way the tax / bill (whatever) is written, was / is slated to go towards the current Georgia Dome bonds or if that is paid off, any renovation, maintenance of the Georgia Dome OR any new stadium.
Which makes sense. Its important for the city to have a dedicated funding source for the bonds. Anyways, so what they're saying is we're giving the Falcons / stadium $200 million up front, using the 39.3% of the proceeds from the hotel / motel tax to pay down those bonds. They're estimating, conservatively, that over the life of the project the city will get $300 million from the tax (which is more than the $200 million worth of bonds). So what happens to that extra $100 million + once the bonds are paid off? Via Maria Saporta:
"Under the GWCCA-Falcons agreement, if the hotel-motel tax generated more than the estimated $300 million, the excess taxes would go into a “waterfall” fund that would go to pay for other debt on the project, or go into a refurbishment and maintenance reserve account, or go into a fund for capital improvements."
Now, we don't know how much the hotel / motel tax will bring in or if the bill will be changed, so we don't know if this money will ever exists. They might alter the bill so that after the bonds are paid off, no percentage has to go to a stadium or they might just get rid of the hotel motel tax. Also, maybe they use that money to help fund upgrades to the surrounding infrastructure? Give local development incentives? Who knows? Its very vague, but to act like this money is 100% going to the Falcons is a bit misleading.
Prev
Linear Mode
