Arena sticking points

Sactown Royalty reports that the local government and the Maloofs are at a standoff on the Maloof contribution to a new arena.  The City/County want the Maloofs to kick in 20 to 25 percent and apparently, the Maloofs want to kick in less.

I'm absolutely for building a new arena downtown, but for me to continue to support a new arena, the agreement MUST include the following:

• The Maloofs MUST pay at least 20 percent and preferably 25 percent of the new arena costs.
• The old $70-odd million loan from the city MUST be paid separately from the payment above.
• Local government MUST get a piece of the arena revenue, given that local citizens would be paying for it.

Update:
Rumor from Kingsfans/Jim Crandell at Fox40 has it that the arena agreement will include the following: The Maloofs will pay 20 percent of the up front costs, plus $3 million a year for 30 years on the lease.  Local government will own the building, but the Maloofs will keep arena profits/revenues.  No word yet on the loan.

For me, the $3 million a year might be a substitute for arena revenue sharing, but the loan payback is non-negotiable, so I'll have to see how that works out.  I'll continue to report what I read/hear, but I'm going to refrain from drawing any more lines in the sand until there is (or isn't) an agreement.

Comments

[Carl]

Dr. Tax,

I haven't made it over to your blog yet, but I'm curious as to why you're opposed. Do you feel like it's just a bad deal? Is it because there's public money involved, because it's a new tax or both? What terms would you support?

[drtaxsacto]

This thing is a turkey - we should reject it - even if they are successful in getting the majority vote scam by the courts.

[Carl]

By "they" I meant the Maloofs and local government in Sacramento.

[Carl]

Maya - thanks for the link. It is interesting to see what's happening to Seattle while we've got ongoing negotiations here. Sounds like they have a deal, and I just hopeful that it's reasonable.

[maya]

Hey Carl,

I thought you might find the discussion of the Seattle Supersonics interesting. They've been battling with the city for arena improvements for a while now, and it looks like the team may be headed to Oklahoma City.

http://www.thestranger.com/blog/2006/07/sonics_reducer.php