Game-changing proposal? How Ohio could fund big stadium plans for Browns and Bengals.
Ohio – Gov. Mike DeWine wants to increase the sports betting tax to seed an ongoing statewide stadium fund. The Browns instead have asked the state to borrow $600 million up front to help pay for their new stadium.
The math says a combination of both ideas could work.Though not formally proposed yet, cleveland.com ran the numbers as the debate over stadium funding for both the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals works its way through the legislative process in Columbus.
Our question was: Instead of waiting for the money to come in from DeWine’s gambling tax idea, could the state borrow the money up front – paying it back over 10 years, as the gambling tax money does arrive?
The answer appears to be yes, short of a significant uptick in borrowing rates or a big drop in sports gambling.
And here’s the bonus: There could be enough money available to eliminate the need for some of the local taxes the Browns are asking for to help cover the cost of their proposed $2.4 billion stadium in Brook Park.
Let’s step through the process.
What’s proposed
The Browns want to build an enclosed stadium in Brook Park – offering to pay for half, $1.2 billion, plus any cost overruns. The county and state, under the team’s plan, would each borrow $600 million to be paid off mostly by projected tax proceeds from the stadium site.
The Ohio House went along with the plan for the state’s share, and sent the proposal to the Ohio Senate, where it now is being considered.
But the governor has a competing idea. He wants to double the tax paid by the operators of sports gambling in Ohio from the current 20% to 40%. This would be far higher than the tax charged in some places like Nevada, but lower than in other places like New York.Combining the two ideas
Compromise often happens during budget discussions. What if the two ideas were combined – going with DeWine’s idea for the increased tax while borrowing based on those proceeds to provide the stadium money up front?
