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I agree with people
who don't want funding out of general revenues of the State or additional
sales tax to fund stadiums. I just don't believe that is
necessary. Any stadium should be built, owned and
managed by the Met Sports Commission. In budget process, the Commission should gather data on average
stadium revenues from all sources for the past five years, --from games, including gate, TV, concession sales,
(concessions sales alone is in hundreds of thousands per day if the stadium is
full), naming rights etc., and other events, i.e. rock concerts,
Billy Graham, etc.. With such data, and in negotiating lease with teams, a
budget could be worked out that would totally retire the bond issue,
and whatever term it takes should be the term of lease for the
team.
There would be two
subsidies the stadium gets: First, owned by the Sports Commission, it
wouldn't pay property tax -though it would generate huge taxes of all
kinds, in generating local GNP-. Second, it would have municipal
bond status which would give the bond issue about a two percent less interest
expense which would amount to near 8 figure money each year, (going from decimal
point to left), and would automatically come from both state and federal.
James E.
Jacobsen
Whittier
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