[Mpls] Carl Pohlad's "Contribution" - It's not 1/3 like the Strib says, but 26% at best

[Dann Dobson]

According to Dave Lawless, Finance Director of Hennepin County, the total cost of the new Twins Stadium, on the Rapid Park site, including infrastructure, land acquisition costs, financing and insurance is: $478 million dollars.
 
In a report he sent to the Hennepin County Board last Tuesday, (and I can provide, if anyone would like a copy), the figures break down as follows:
 
            $125  million    -     Twins contribution to stadium
            $235  million    -     Hennepin Co. contribution to stadium
              $84  million    -     Land acquisition, infrastructure and site preparation
              $34  million    -     Financing Costs;  cost of bonds, tax counsel, insurance
            $478  million          TOTAL RAPID PARK TWINS - HENNEPIN CO STADIUM COSTS
 
Thus when the Strib talks about the Twins, "putting up 1/3", they are ONLY TALKING ABOUT THE ACTUAL STADIUM, they are totally ignoring the $118 million in associated costs. 
 
When the associated costs are factored in, the Twins in reality are only contributing 26.15%, while the taxpayers of Hennepin County are paying 73.85%.
 
This also fails to mention the fact that while Hennepin County Taxpayers are paying almost 3/4rds of the cost of this new stadium; the Twins and the Pohlads will retain both naming rights and any revenues from PSL's or Personal Seat Licenses. Naming rights have recently gone for over $200 million dollars and PSL's for over $50 million (however that is unlikely in the Twins case.)  So in reality, if the Twins retain both naming rights and PSL revenue, the teams contribution may be near zero or they may actually make a profit. 
 
The reality is Twins and Pohlad are not putting in anywhere near 1/3rd, or even 1/4 into the stadium upfront. This is another myth the Twins, the Hennepin County Board members who want this deal and the Strib are trying to sell the public.
 
Dann Dobson
Exrecutive Director - No Stadium tax Coalition
651-227-4376
dddobson1 at yahoo.com
NoStadiumTax at yahoo.com


Tim Bonham <t-bonham at scc.net> wrote:

>I'm somewhat of an agnostic on the stadium deal, but the more I read about
>it the more I'm annoyed with how it's being spun in the media. My biggest
>annoyance? Carl Pohlad's "contribution" of $125m.
Another question on this: will Carl's "contribution" be a 
donation, and thus deductible on his taxes? (Like business contributions 
to Olympics, etc. have been.) In that case, it isn't really much of a 
"contribution" at all -- just payment of money that he would otherwise pay 
in taxes.

So if Carl deducts that from his taxes, it means the rest of us pay more 
taxes to make that up. Or suffer a loss in services, due to the government 
'revenue shortfall'.

So Carl gets to claim he is making a contribution, but actually deducts 
that on the back end. And he gets the naming rights, so he makes a profit 
of about $50-60 million on the deal. Plus the increase ini value of his 
team from the new stadium, and the increased revenue from it.
No wonder a guy this cunning is the richest man in Minnesota!

Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson


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