St. Louis comptroller to oppose stadium financing bill
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St. Louis comptroller to oppose stadium financing bill
Updated at 4:50 p.m. with more details
ST. LOUIS • City Comptroller Darlene Green announced that she will oppose the stadium financing plan now before the city’s Board of Aldermen, saying that the aldermanic bill to fund construction of a riverfront football stadium “is not fiscally responsible.”
The comptroller said she was worried the current plan creates a funding gap for the city and puts its credit rating at risk.
Instead, Green is proposing two possible solutions if the current bill is passed: Missouri should create a state sports authority able to finance more of the stadium costs, or that the city work with regional businesses on a plan to find additional money.
“If the bill is passed in its current state and presented to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, my vote will be ‘no,’” Green said in a news release issued late Friday afternoon.
Green is one of three members of the city’s Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which approves the city’s real estate deals, appropriations and its operating budget. The other two members are St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed.
In her news release, Green noted that a state sports authority could raise money from tourism activities, such as rental car surcharges, and issue bonds to pay for sports projects.
“Between the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, the Blues, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs and collegiate teams, there is far more synergy for a statewide sports authority in Missouri than in many states that already have them,” Green said.
Green also supported a draft bill sponsored by Alderman Donna Baringer that would create a Crime Reduction and Professional Policing Fund that would provide the city with additional money.
“Regional businesses would be asked to partner with the city to finance the CRPP fund and close the budget gap that would be created if the stadium funding bill is passed,” the comptroller said.
Green’s opposition isn’t a surprise since she has been critical of the efforts to use public money for a $1 billion stadium in hopes of keeping the Rams from leaving the city, or enticing another team to come.
The current plan calls for the city to finance about $145 million of that project.
The bill is now before the aldermanic Ways and Means committee. If approved by the committee, the bill would then go before the full Board of Aldermen.
St. Louis comptroller to oppose stadium financing bill
Updated at 4:50 p.m. with more details
ST. LOUIS • City Comptroller Darlene Green announced that she will oppose the stadium financing plan now before the city’s Board of Aldermen, saying that the aldermanic bill to fund construction of a riverfront football stadium “is not fiscally responsible.”
The comptroller said she was worried the current plan creates a funding gap for the city and puts its credit rating at risk.
Instead, Green is proposing two possible solutions if the current bill is passed: Missouri should create a state sports authority able to finance more of the stadium costs, or that the city work with regional businesses on a plan to find additional money.
“If the bill is passed in its current state and presented to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, my vote will be ‘no,’” Green said in a news release issued late Friday afternoon.
Green is one of three members of the city’s Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which approves the city’s real estate deals, appropriations and its operating budget. The other two members are St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed.
In her news release, Green noted that a state sports authority could raise money from tourism activities, such as rental car surcharges, and issue bonds to pay for sports projects.
“Between the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, the Blues, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs and collegiate teams, there is far more synergy for a statewide sports authority in Missouri than in many states that already have them,” Green said.
Green also supported a draft bill sponsored by Alderman Donna Baringer that would create a Crime Reduction and Professional Policing Fund that would provide the city with additional money.
“Regional businesses would be asked to partner with the city to finance the CRPP fund and close the budget gap that would be created if the stadium funding bill is passed,” the comptroller said.
Green’s opposition isn’t a surprise since she has been critical of the efforts to use public money for a $1 billion stadium in hopes of keeping the Rams from leaving the city, or enticing another team to come.
The current plan calls for the city to finance about $145 million of that project.
The bill is now before the aldermanic Ways and Means committee. If approved by the committee, the bill would then go before the full Board of Aldermen.