People who know me know I will rail against Corporate Welfare, where the government just gives businesses money for nothing. Like a sport team’s stadiums:
Taxpayers would pick up half the cost of a new $500 million arena for the Milwaukee Bucks under a financial deal that would rely on current and former team owners for the rest, Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday.
Walker, a likely presidential candidate, has argued for months that it will cost the state more in lost income-tax revenue if the NBA moves the team from Milwaukee than it will to pay for a new downtown arena.
Standing behind a podium with a sign that read, “Cheaper to Keep Them,” he announced the long-awaited deal surrounded by Republican legislative leaders, along with the Democratic leaders of the city and Milwaukee County.
“The price of doing nothing is not zero. It’s $419 million,” Walker said, one of repeated references to the estimated lost revenue and growth over 20 years if the team moves. “It’s not just a good deal. It’s a really bad deal if we don’t do anything.”
Jazz Shaw breaks down how much debt Wisconsin is going in for:
Wisconsin would issue $55 million in bonds (which, with interest, would cost $80 million to pay back.) Milwaukee would have to kick in $47 million and the county would need to issue $55 million in bonds. The Wisconsin Center District would issue an additional $93 million in bonds as well.
But despite the debt, they are only going to raise taxes targeted on those who benefitted the most for the Milwaukee Bucks staying in town:
Allowing the center to issue those bonds would require the Legislature and Walker to change state law to extend the district’s repayment period.
The district levies three taxes in Milwaukee County: 3 percent on car rentals, 2.5 percent on hotel rooms and a half-percent on restaurant food and beverage sales. Current law allows the district to increase the rental car tax to 4 percent and the hotel tax to 3 percent. If that is done, Walker has argued, it wouldn’t be a new tax.
Technically true, but it is still a tax hike. Just own it.
Now I am not saying this is a good deal and I roll my eyes when sport teams blackmail for a new stadium. The Milwaukee Bucks could have easily been bluffing just to get Wisconsin to pay for it all, but I’m sympathetic to Gov. Scott Walker here. If the Milwaukee Bucks had packed up and left, then the impact on all job loses would be blamed on him.
Instead of running out the clock and hoping for the best, Walker went in to negotiate a deal that got everyone’s nose bloody (including a 50% buy-in from the Milwaukee Bucks). A Democratic governor would have put Wisconsin on the hook for 100% of the stadium and just raised taxes on the rich without a second thought. However instead of raising everyone’s taxes, they are only raising targeted taxes for those who benefit. Tourists who come in for a Milwaukee Bucks game are more likely to pay those taxes. And to top everything off, he got approval from both Republicans and Democrats lawmakers.
I am impressed with Gov. Scott Walker’s leadership skills here. Walker is one to shape events and not let events shape him. That is what I am looking for right now and why I support Governor Scott Walker for POTUS.
Well, see ya’ later!
Mood: Impressed
Music: “Take The Money And Run
Book: “Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story And A Nation’s Challenge
