[Elvis]

[BuiltRamTough]

Interesting on how ROD closed the relocation thread. Things seem to be going downhill for STL and will continue to do so. Smart move. They should of closed it quickly right after the owners meetings. Some people read things they shouldn't have.

[Elvis]

Relocation is the elephant in the room at ROD...

[Elvis]

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... thout.html

Budget chairman: No state money for stadium without vote

Jacob Kirn

Missouri’s House budget chairman said Wednesday he would not allow state money to be used for a new National Football League stadium in St. Louis unless the debt payments are authorized by the Legislature or voters.

Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, outlined his position on the $1 billion Mississippi riverfront stadium in a letter to Gov. Jay Nixon.

Nixon’s administration said in January it did not need legislative approval to use state bond proceeds for the stadium.

Flanigan’s chief of staff, Chris Dunn, said in an interview that if Nixon includes new state debt payments in any budget, Flanigan will take them out. Still, Dunn said, “We will continue to pay the existing debt” on the Edward Jones Dome.

The state currently pays about $12 million annually on the Edward Jones Dome debt, while the city of St. Louis pays about $5 million a year and St. Louis County about $6 million. Under the current agreement, the state must makes its final debt payment in fiscal 2022, with an annual $2 million obligation for maintenance of the Edward Jones Dome continuing through fiscal 2024, according to Flanigan's letter.

The state takes in about $10 million annually in income taxes from St. Louis Rams players.

A Nixon representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The latest funding plan includes $135 million from new St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority (RSA) bond proceeds from the state and $66 million in new RSA bond proceeds from the city of St. Louis.

Last week, the Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB) approved$15 million in state tax credits to help build the stadium. That number should rise to $50 million over the next three years.

About $200 million would come from the NFL’s G4 loan program, and $250 million would come from an NFL team owner.

Earlier this week, another Missouri Republican legislator sent a letter to Nixon expressing his concern for a plan that excludes state lawmakers.

[BuiltRamTough]

Relocation is the elephant in the room at ROD...

This was ICED's thought process on Tuesday.

Everything is going bad in STL. Ok so let me post something positive. Let me post Shane Grays article. Relax everyone, everything is going good.

Next day the politicians unleash hell.

Shane Gray you're up next..

[den-the-coach]

[BuiltRamTough]

Lmao this is awesome!

[TSFH Fan]

So, now it's like a game of chicken with other people's money/credit:

Credit impact unclear amid fight over new St. Louis stadium
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... -st-louis/
By SUMMER BALLENTINE - Associated Press - Thursday, August 27, 2015

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - It’s unclear whether halting payments for the current St. Louis football stadium, or refusing to make them for a potential new stadium, would hurt the state’s high credit rating, a state official told Missouri lawmakers Thursday.

The uncertainty comes after several legislators vowed to block spending for a new stadium without a vote by the public or the Legislature - a challenge to efforts by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority to replace the Edward Jones Dome with hopes to keep the Rams in the city. Owner Stan Kroenke is working to move the team to the Los Angeles area.

Plans outlined in a request for tax credits last week include $135 million from the state to help the sports authority make bond payments for the estimated $998 million stadium. That would be possible, members of Nixon’s administration have argued, by extending payments now being made to help pay off the old dome. But both the House and Senate budget chairmen have expressed reluctance to commit the state to more debt.

What will happen if lawmakers continue to resist is unclear.

Office of Administration Commissioner Doug Nelson said while those who bought bonds used for the current dome were informed that payments are subject to legislative approval, refusing to continue payments constitutes defaulting on a state obligation made to the authority. He said he doesn’t know whether rating agencies would question that and opt to lower the state’s quality credit rating.

“There may be consequences if that payment isn’t met,” Nelson said. “That’s a term of default.”

An administration spokeswoman later said that the same issue could arise if the state enters into a similar arrangement to help finance a new stadium but lawmakers don’t allow the payments, as several have proposed.

Nelson spoke Thursday at a public forum hosted by Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf, one of the most outspoken critics of the plan to use public funding for a stadium. Schaaf said that the state technically is making lease payments, not bond payments, to the sports authority, although the end goal is to pay off bond debt. He suggested the state could refuse to make payments for a new stadium without negative consequences.

“I don’t think it will hurt our credit rating at all,” Schaaf said.

[bubbaramfan]

Somewhere I read that Moody's downgraded St. Louis' credit. Anyone know where that article is posted?

[Elvis]

You probably read it here...

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=396&p=4195#p4161