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Digressions, Digressions, Digressions.
But really how do we pay for stadiums and why can't we use those dollars for parks?
Congrats to our friends in Houston and the Houston Astros for a huge win in what was one of the best World Series in recent memory (see Game 2 and Game 5). I say recent memory because, clearly, the best World Series in my lifetime was the 1991 World Series where the Minnesota Twins bested the Atlanta Braves in seven games highlighted by a walkoff home run by
Kirby Puckett in game 6 and punctuated by a 10 inning shutout masterpiece by veteran hurler Jack Morris in their ridiculously loud and admittedly awful place to watch baseball, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
Anyway, during the seemingly endless pitching changes of this year's World Series, I got to thinking about stadiums. These are great gathering places where regional fans of all stripes and sizes come together to cheer on their favorite squad. Every year, it seems the latest and greatest Taj Mahal to professional athletics opens in a city somewhere to great fanfare. And while we the taxpayers foot a whole bunch of the bill, many of us don't get to enjoy these spaces. As you know, the cost
of attending a game is too far out of reach for many people, especially individuals with families.
It's weird, we don't seem to bat an eye at imposing regional sales taxes, hotel or rental car taxes, or surcharges to subsidize stadiums that a relatively small number of people use a few times a year. If as a society we justify spending millions or billions of dollars to make our regions "competitive" by having professional sports, why not make the case for investments in parks and public spaces using these same financing mechanisms? Far
more residents and visitors use parks,
and
use them year round.
And, the great thing about parks is you don't need a personal seat license to visit (which won't be tax deductible anymore under the current House tax reform proposal, begging the question how the hell were personal seat licenses ever deductible).
Now is the time to rethink how we view regional amenities. Now is the time to have an honest conversation about what we mean by quality of life. I argue that a regional network of parks and trails is far more valuable for business retention and attraction, tourism, and from a simple ROI analysis.
We use parks everyday and they are open to everyone.
Even the most used stadiums are guaranteed only a fraction of the year baseball stadiums, 81 games a year or roughly a quarter of a year; NBA arenas, 41 games; NHL rinks, 41 games, NFL stadiums, eight to 10 games depending on preseason schedule.
A
recent Minneapolis City Pages story
excoriates the city of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, and the Minnesota Vikings about the details surrounding a new $25 million downtown park adjacent to the admittedly lovely U.S. Bank Stadium which came in at a cool $1.06 billion of which $348 million were state taxpayer dollars and $150 million of hospitality tax proceeds imposed by the City of Minneapolis. Talk about small bill, so why are we fighting over the scraps? Instead why not fight to make sure
that future corporate giveaways at least have some community benefit?
From now on, when we're being held hostage by some billionaire owner threatening to relocate our beloved sports franchise for greener pastures and more often than not our city or region will capitulate, let's get something out of it. Next time, in the next city, some of those "hospitality taxes" should fund the places in our communities that are truly hospitable to all visitors and residents alike our parks.
Kevin O'Hara
Vice President of Urban and Government Affairs
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Featured
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Hey Congress, If the Budget Ain't Broke Don't Fix It
Last week, Congress passed its final FY2018 budget framework. It's important to keep in mind that although Congress has passed its framework, the spending levels for individual programs (called appropriations) have not been finalized. This past fiscal year, the majority of our priority programs fared well, especially in light of proposed cuts and program eliminations. Our best bet for FY2018 will be to maintain the funding levels of FY2017.
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