WhoDeyRevolution

Sales Tax Projection FAIL

Trolling around on the Bloomberg Terminal at the office, I noticed the Chart of the Day (a few days ago) belonged to our very own hometown.  But not in a good way.  It's a graph of the projected sales tax revenue used to fund the bonds taken out by our municipality to fund both the Bengals and Reds stadiums.

Whoops!  And they even included that bright red FAIL! in the actual chart.  Crazy, right?

To be fair, this applies to both the Reds and Bengals.  The Reds, however, did revisit their lease with the county.  The Bengals did not.

But hey, at least we negotiated a tough stadium deal with the Bengals so the ongoing costs borne by the County won't increase each year.  Oh wait.  The costs DO increase each year?  S***.  Nevermind.

So why does this story get feature play on Bloomberg - information engine for the entire financial industry?  Well, municipal bond markets make up an enormous amount of US savings (the muni bond market is in the trillions of dollars), particularly for individuals due to the tax-exempt status of their interest payments.  When the fiscal situation looks as bleak as it does here, people take notice.

So, yes, awesome win Sunday.  And hopefully Roy gives Himes the ol' horsecollar and breaks his leg ("hahaha, Sleeping, you don't really mean that"...YES I DO. Break his f***ing leg, Roy).

But given the cost the Bengals impose on our community, we as fans should expect big wins like Sunday to be a regular occurrence and need to hold ownership to the highest of standards.  Full text of the Bloomberg article after the jump.

For Rent: Large stadium, river adjacent — $0.

Okay, that headline, like all craigslist ads, is a little misleading, but it certainly brings us to a fact that may have slipped under the radar recently. There's a new kind of "revenue stream" this year for Mike Brown — he's now saving a bundle every year in rent, based on the stadium deal he signed in 2000. 

This article from The Enquirer (now almost 9 years old) describes the stadium deal pretty perfectly in terms that now seem impossible to come by.

"The Bengals lease says the team will pay rent of $1.7 million this year [2000]. The amount decreases by $100,000 a year until it reaches $900,000 in 2008, a total of $11.7 million. Starting in 2009, the Bengals pay no rent.

Hamilton County will pay for year-round maintenance of the stadium, although the Bengals will manage the facility. That's estimated to cost the county more than $4 million this year [again, 2000], growing to $7.8 million in 2010."

So now, instead of spending an average of just over $1 million per year to play in PBS, the Bengals (read: Mike Brown) pay nothing. Not only that, Hamilton County has to pay the upkeep on the building on non-game days, which is roughly 357 days a year, not including playoffs (stifle involuntary laughter now).

The best part? Because Mike's not paying rent anymore, some local school children and taxpayers may be out of luck, according to Doc [Third item]. The "stadium rent" money represented a huge contribution to local school funding and property tax rebates.

"While MB and Family are under no legal obligation to do anything except cash checks and demand new lightbulbs, you'd think they might do something as a gesture of goodwill. No, actually, you wouldnt. Bad deal, all around."

Mike Brown. Taking candy from babies (and taxpayers) since 2000.