Can Charlotte residents trust Tepper?
The National Football League’s Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper wants $650 million in public funding to help pay for an $800 million renovation of the team’s Charlotte venue. The question that area residents should be asking is this. Is David Tepper trustworthy and will he keep his word if North Carolina politicians decide that yes, the Panthers’ stadium needs a renovation and the lawmakers give him the money. After all, Tepper took South Carolina public funding and wanted to build a Panthers’ practice facility along with retail and residential space in a York County project in which South Carolina taxpayers would have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to please Tepper. Tepper walked away from the project as the construction commenced in 2022. The municipality of Rock Hill, South Carolina failed to secure $225 million in bonds to pay for roads, sidewalks and other public infrastructure on the site and Tepper fled. Rock Hill elected officials are trying to figure out what to do with the 240 acres of land that was supposed to house Tepper’s business.
Tepper and the city of Charlotte are looking to form a partnership that would include an $800 million renovation to the Panthers’ stadium. Tepper would keep the team in town for 20 years. According to reports, David Tepper is worth more than $20 billion and is one of the richest hedge fund managers on the globe. Tepper is willing to put up $150 million for the renovations. Charlotte politicians claim that the proposed deal does not require any new or increased taxes. If that is the case, where is the $650 million coming from? That’s an easy answer. There is an existing hospitality and tourism tax law which is in existence to be used on projects to support Charlotte’s tourism economy. The stadium game continues.
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
