Nevada elected officials have another go at finding money for a Las Vegas A’s stadium.
The road of the proposed shift of Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics franchise to Las Vegas is littered with potholes. There will be yet another attempt by members of the Nevada Senate to find enough votes to send a stadium proposal to the Nevada Assembly. John Fisher, the owner of the Oakland baseball business, wants up to $380 million in public money for a Las Vegas ballpark. The public money would partially pay for the construction of the estimated $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat retractable roof venue. Fisher will pick up the rest of the tab. The public funding would come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Additionally, there would be the creation of a special tax district around the stadium that allegedly would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The stadium plan allegedly would not raise taxes.
Fisher’s business would not pay property taxes for the stadium. Clark County would also contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs. That is a lot of money and some Nevada politicians would rather see that money put into other areas. Fisher and Nevada legislators cut the initial $500 million request by Fisher to $380 million. But hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money whether that is a hotel-motel tax or a car rental tax or a rise in property taxes in Clark County will be put into the project once the Nevada legislators and Governor Joe Lombardo approve the expenditure. Lombardo initially opposed raising taxes to fund a ballpark. But politicians always find money for a sports venue. Fisher has 11 lobbyists listed as active for the Athletics Investment Group to talk to Nevada state lawmakers in an effort to get the money. The effort to get the Las Vegas ballpark continues despite all of the potholes on that road.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
