Selig and Diamondbacks endorse Cubs' Stadium Tax Increment Financing

From http://www.fieldofschemes.com/ - 

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has officially come out against an Arizona-wide ticket tax scheme to help fund a Chicago Cubs spring-training stadium. In doing so, Selig joins every other team in Arizona, who would rather not be helping to foot the bill for their rival's new home, no matter how many Cubs fans boost the gate at their spring games thanks to the team's presence in Arizona rather than Florida.
Selig says he'd rather see a tax-increment financing scheme. The Arizona Diamondbacks agree, which should be no surprise given that a TIF was their idea in the first place; however, team president Derrick Hall hedged a bit, saying, "We would be open to [a TIF], but believe the legislators are not in favor of it. ... We are just seeking other solutions so as to not tax fans who attend any and all spring games." In other words: We don't care who you tax, Arizona legislature, so long as it ain't us.

Diamondbacks open to special tax district to finance Cubs' stadium

From the Phoenix Business Journal - 

Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall says the team is open to the creation of special tax districts to help finance a spring training stadium for the Chicago Cubs and other projects in the Phoenix area.
The D-backs are among opponents to the current plan to help pay for the $84 million stadium in Mesa, which includes an 8 percent charge on all Cactus League games.
One alternative suggested is a special tax district or a tax increment financing structure in Mesa.
“We would be open to it, but believe the legislators are not in favor of it,” Hall said. “It seems like a solid alternative and by design, should help enhance development throughout the Valley. We are just seeking other solutions so as to not tax fans who attend any and all spring games.”
TIFs involve earmarking tax revenue from a specific area for development and redevelopment projects in the tax districts.
Hall said the D-backs prefer tax zones to the ticket tax and they could help other parts of the region, although he expects opposition from fiscally conservative lawmakers.

Bud Selig siding AGAINST Cubs on stadium deal

Add Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to the list of opposition to the tax plan to help Mesa, Arizona keep the Cubs in Mesa for spring trainings to come.

As you are probably well aware, there is a bill being proposed to, among other things, add a tax to all Arizona spring training tickets to fund an $84 million new spring training stadium for the Cubs.  The Cubs are the biggest draw to Arizona spring training.  Mesa is therefore desparate to keep the Cubs and the new stadium is needed to do just that. 

The White Sox are the most vocal opponent to the new tax but by far not the only ones.  Many other teams that spend their springs in Arizona oppose the bill.  But now, Bud Selig, the current MLB Commissioner, has voiced his opposition to the new tax. 

Selig's office has hired Arizona attorney Pat Ray to oppose the tax.  No word yet what impact Selig's opposition will have on the Arizona legislature that is considering the new tax.

First public hearing today regarding proposed deal for Cubs' Cactus League stadium

From the Phoenix Business Journal - 

A bill to help pay for the proposed $84 million spring training ballpark for the Chicago Cubs will get its first public hearing at the Arizona Legislature Wednesday morning.
The House Commerce Committee will consider House Bill 2736, which would raise car rental taxes and levy ticket fees on all Cactus League games to help pay for the stadium. The Cubs have threatened to move to Florida if they don’t get a new stadium in Mesa by 2013. The city of Mesa will hold an election later this year asking voters to approve bonds and extra spending for the ballpark.
The bill does not yet including a specific surcharge for tickets or a specific increase to rental car taxes.
The idea of ticket fees on all Cactus League games is opposed by the Arizona Diamondbacks and other Cactus League teams.

Mesa may get sued over Cubs' stadium deal

The Goldwater Institute is threatening to sue the city of Mesa to block public financing of the $84 million proposed Cactus League stadium for the Chicago Cubs. 

Goldwater attorney Clint Bolick said Tuesday the deal between the city of Mesa and the Cubs could violate state prohibitions against government gifts to private entities crossing the Arizona Supreme Court’s recent decision on tax incentives given by Phoenix to the CityNorth development.


Bolick plans to meet with Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, who hopes to avoid any legal action against Mesa. 

Bolick said he has concerns about the agreement, which calls for financing by Mesa as well as countywide measures in the form of higher rental car taxes and state-imposed fees on all Cactus League baseball games.
The Cubs would buy land for the new ballpark and turn it over to Mesa for development. The Cubs would get rights to signage, naming rights and would be able to book extra events at the stadium.
Bolick said the plan is one-sided in favor of the Cubs, which should put in more money or offer a better deal for Mesa. “The Cubs might have to put some more skin in the game,” Bolick said.
Smith said the Cubs are a top draw in the Cactus League and a move by the team to Florida would hurt the region’s economy.

Personally, I think the Cubs should move their spring training to Florida if anyone attempts to block the proposed deal to finance their Mesa stadium.

More on the Cubs Cactus League stadium

The Phoenix Business Journal reports on the Cubs Cactus League stadium controversy -

The plan to build an $84 million Cactus League stadium for the Chicago Cubs in Mesa is facing plenty of criticism. A stadium financing measure at the Arizona Legislature could raise rental car taxes in Maricopa County and impose a first-of-its-kind ticket charge on all Cactus League games.
The Chicago White Sox and Arizona Dia­mond­backs oppose the ticket fee proposal, which is backed by Mesa Mayor Scott Smith and state legislators.
The Cubs have threatened to move to the Grapefruit League in Florida unless a new stadium is built for them.
The Cubs stadium plan has the backing of Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, the tourism industry and some key state lawmakers. But four other Cactus League teams — the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland A’s, Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox — say it would be unfair to tax all Cactus League tickets to pay for the Cubs ballpark. That portion of the plan must be approved by the Legislature.

This isn’t the first stadium financing battle in the Valley. It took years for the Arizona Cardinals to get a new stadium funded and built. And a disgruntled resident shot Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox in 1997 over raising the county’s sales tax to help pay for Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, home to the Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona ok with Cactus League surcharge if Arizona voters are ok with it

Arizona has proposed a countywide vote on whether there should be a surcharge added to all Cactus League spring training tickets to pay for a new proposed $84 million stadium for the Cubs. 

The Arizona Legislature is considering a bill to raise rental car taxes and imposing fees on all Cactus League tickets to help pay for a Cubs ballpark.
The Diamondbacks and other Cactus League teams also want the Legislature to consider other funding options.

No vote has yet been scheduled.

Two more Cactus League teams come out against Cubs' tax

The Oakland A's and the Texas Rangers join the growing list of Cactus League teams who oppose the proposed surcharge to be added to the price of all Cactus League spring training tickets to finance a new park for the Cubs. 

“The Rangers join the other clubs in the Cactus League in being opposed to this proposed legislation. It would result in higher ticket prices for games in Surprise, which is certainly neither in our fans nor the Rangers’ best interest. We hope that the Cubs will stay in Arizona but not at the expense of Rangers’ fans,” said Rangers vice president John Blake.


“We are opposed to a ticket surcharge on tickets for games played at Phoenix Muni,” said A’s spokesman Bob Rose.


The A's and Rangers join the Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks in opposing the bill.

Cubs Spring Training Schedule

Cubs Spring Training schedule -

March 4 A's vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm


March 5 Dbacks vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 6 Cubs vs Sox(ss) - Glendale 1:05 pm

March 7 Dodgers vs Cubs(ss) - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 7 Cubs(ss) vs Sox - Glendale 1:05 pm

March 8 Cubs vs A's - Phoenix 1:05 pm

March 9 Brewers vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 10 Giants vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 11 Cubs vs Padres - Peoria 1:05 pm

March 12 Cubs(ss) vs Brewers - Maryvale

March 12 Sox(ss) vs Cubs - Las Vegas 1:05 pm

March 13 Reds vs Cubs(ss) - Mesa 7:05 pm

March 13 Sox(ss) vs Cubs(ss) - Las Vegas 1:05 pm

March 14 Cubs vs Angels - Tempe 1:05 pm

March 15 Cubs vs Rockies - HCT 1:05 pm

March 16 Rangers vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 17 Day Off

March 18 Cubs vs Dodgers - Glendale 1:05 pm

March 19 Cubs vs Sox - Glendale 1:05 pm

March 20 Cubs(ss) vs A's(ss) - Phoenix 1:05 pm

March 20 Royals(ss) vs Cubs(ss) - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 21 Cubs vs Reds(ss) - Goodyear 1:05 pm

March 22 Indians vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 23 Cubs vs Royals - Surprise 1:05 pm

March 24 Cubs vs Rangers - Surprise 1:05 pm

March 25 Cubs vs Dbacks - TEP 1:05 pm

March 26 A's(ss) vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 27 Padres(ss) vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm

March 28 Cubs vs Mariners - Peoria 1:05 pm

March 29 Cubs vs Reds - Goodyear 1:05 pm

March 30 Cubs vs Giants - Scottsdale 1:05 pm

March 31 Cubs(ss) vs Brewers - Maryvale1:05 pm
March 31 Angels vs Cubs(ss) - Mesa 1:05 pm
April 1 Rockies vs Cubs - Mesa 1:05 pm

April 2 Cubs vs Dbacks - Chase Field 6:40 pm

April 3 Cubs vs Dbacks - Chase Field 1:10 pm

The Latest on the Gunfight at the Cactus League Corral

From Paul Sullivan from Chicago Breaking Sports News -

The battle between the Cubs and their fellow Cactus League owners over a proposed ticket surcharge to help fund a new spring training facility in Mesa, Ariz., is expected to heat up this week.

The White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks are leading the opposition to the "Cubs tax," a surcharge on all Cactus League tickets.

The Cubs have declined to comment on the brewing brouhaha, although Mesa mayor Scott Smith, who has been outspoken in his remarks about Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf's opposition to the surcharge, released a statement Sunday saying the project would benefit the entire Cactus League.

"The Chicago Cubs are far and away the leader in spring-training attendance," Smith said. "They bring in thousands more tourists than any other team in the Cactus League, which creates an economic impact for all of Arizona in excess of $100 million each year. And, the Cubs spread these benefits around. Scottsdale and Phoenix/Tempe get more Cubs tourists in their hotels than Mesa! This is about jobs and tourism dollars that positively benefit this state every year. "

Smith also said he hopes Cactus League teams would meet with him and Arizona House Majority Leader John Comish, who will introduce the legislation on Monday, before opposing the surcharge.
"This is not just a Mesa or Cubs problem," he said. "All teams and cities will reach a point in the future when they too will be faced with the challenge of upgrading facilities that have aged or are obsolete.

"Hopefully, the teams will keep an open mind and discuss honestly how this problem can be resolved so the Cactus League can remain strong and successful. To do otherwise is shortsighted, selfish and foolish. I welcome the opportunity to explain the bill and other proposals to the leaders of any other Cactus League team."

HoHoKam Park, where the Cubs play, is by no means an obsolete ballpark. But it is one of the older facilities remaining in the Cactus League. In December, Cubs president Crane Kenney said the team needed a new facility because Cubs fans may decide to attend their road games at more modern Cactus League ballparks in the future, bypassing HoHoKam.

"You now have 15 teams within 45 minutes of each other, roughly," Kenney told Cubs beat writers. "And facilities like Camelback Ranch (shared by the White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers) and Goodyear (shared by Cleveland and Cincinnati) are truly state-of-the-art.

"If I go to Arizona and I'm a Cubs fan and I want to see my team, I can choose to either go to Goodyear, Glendale or one of these really neat facilities to see the Cubs play the Reds, or the Indians or the Dodgers or the White Sox. Or I can go to HoHoKam, which is less of a facility.

"So what I worry about in some ways is that people coming to Arizona, (because) it's so easy to get to the Cubs games anywhere they play, that they start attending the away games, because our facility has fallen behind some of the newer stadiums. Part of this is defensive. Yes, we do draw well. But I do worry (that) down the road, will fans say, 'I absolutely want to see the Cubs, I absolutely want to see them in Arizona, but I don't necessarily need to see them in HoHoKam?' So that's part of the reason why (the Cubs need a new facility)."

Because of the controversy surrounding the surcharge, the Arizona legislature is now expected to ask for a special audit by the auditor general of all contracts entered into by the Arizona Tourism and Sports authority during the calendar years of 2008 and '09 to acquire land or construct, finance, furnish, improve, market or promote the use of existing or proposed spring training facilities.

That audit would include the deals that brought the White Sox and Dodgers to Glendale, the Indians and Reds to Goodyear, and the plan to bring the D-backs and Colorado Rockies to a new facility in Scottsdale. The sports authority was created in 2000 to help raise money for the Arizona Cardinals stadium in Glendale, and for Cactus League facilities.

Mesa Mayor blasting White Sox for opposing tax to build new Cubs park

From http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/ - 

The battle over whether Cactus League teams should be forced to charge extra for tickets to help fund a new spring training facility for the Cubs is starting to get ugly.

In an interview with the Arizona Republic, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith criticized White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf for his opposition to the proposed surcharge, which is expected to be introduced into legislation Monday.

Smith said the proposed surcharge -- the "Cubs tax" -- would not affect "current revenue streams" for the other 13 teams that train in the Cactus League. He then noted that Reinsdorf's Sox left Tucson for a publicly funded spring training complex in Glendale, Ariz.

"Is this the same Jerry Reinsdorf that skipped out on Pima County taxpayers who had spent tens of millions of dollars to provide him with a taxpayer-funded stadium, to come to Glendale, where Maricopa County taxpayers provided him a Taj Mahal spring-training facility?" Smith said.

Smith also said Reinsdorf's White Sox play in a publicly funded ballpark in Chicago, and that Reinsdorf looked into buying the Phoenix Coyotoes, who play in a publicly funded facility in Glendale.
"The irony is delicious," Smith said.

Arizona president Derrick Hall told the Republic that the other 13 teams in the Cactus League "feel the same way" about helping to subsidize the Cubs' ballpark in Mesa.

CUBS: "Tax is not our issue"

The following is from Bruce Levine at ESPN -

The Chicago Cubs' response to critical comments made by White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf about a possible Cactus League tax on all baseball tickets sold is no response at all.
"This is not our issue," Cubs president Crane Kenney said. "This is an issue for the state of Arizona to represent."
Arizona at this point has committed to a ticket amusement charge, however they are considering that as part of the way to fund the $85 million needed to build a new Cubs compex in east Mesa. The state is looking at many ways to try to raise funds, including adding a rental car tax. The Cubs as well as the other 14 teams training in Arizona would be subject to a ticket tariff if that is the direction the state decides to go.
Reinsdorf told the Phoenix Business Journal that the White Sox are opposed to a tariff on Cactus League games.
The Cubs and Arizona hope the new site will be ready by 2013. The Cubs will continue to spend spring training at HoHoKam Park and Fitch Field, their minor-league complex until the project is completed.

White Sox and Diamondbacks trying to block Cubs deal with Mesa

From the Phoenix Business Journal -

The Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks oppose a plan to have the entire Cactus League bankroll the $84 million stadium being built in Mesa for the Chicago Cubs.
Arizona lawmakers are crafting plans that could impose new ticket charges on all Cactus League games and raise rental car taxes Valleywide to help pay for the Cubs’ new spring training complex.
Cactus League President Robert Brinton said ticket surcharges previously have been used by specific cities to fund baseball stadiums within their jurisdictions, but this is the first time a leaguewide fee could be imposed for one project. In a nutshell, the D-backs, Sox and spring training fans Valleywide would help foot the bill for Mesa to build a 15,000-seat stadium for the Cubs.
“We’re opposed,” said White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
He said other teams and their fans did not finance development of the new White Sox stadium in Glendale, and he thinks it’s unfair to have other teams pay for the Cubs complex in Mesa. The Sox share the new Camelback Ranch stadium with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
D-backs President Derrick Hall also doesn’t like the idea of leaguewide ticket surcharges to benefit the Cubs.
“We want the Cubs to stay here badly, but not at the expense of our fans,” Hall said. “I’ve heard the argument that the other teams should be willing to because of the visiting crowds that the Cubs bring to their games. They do draw well, as do we, yet we were creative in our search for a new site to identify a partner willing to finance the entire project without public dollars.”
The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community is building a new spring training stadium east of Scottsdale for the D-backs and the Colorado Rockies. The tribe is taking a $23 million loan backed by federal stimulus money to help fund that $100 million project. The tribe, which operates two casinos, is paying for the remainder of the new complex.
Cactus League tickets this year range between $4 and $45 per game.
TO THEIR BENEFIT

Brinton said the Cubs are a linchpin of the Cactus League, and he supports the ticket surcharge idea as well as raising car rental rates. The Cubs are the biggest draw in the Cactus League, with more than 203,000 fans attending its spring training games in 2009. The team’s owners, the Ricketts family, threatened to move to Naples, Fla., to play in the Grapefruit League unless Mesa built a new ballpark to replace the aging Hohokam Stadium.
Arizona House Majority Leader John McComish, R-Ahwatukee, is formulating a financing bill for the Cubs. McComish said he is looking at options to pay for the new stadium, including ticket surcharges and increased taxes on hotels and car rentals. He hasn’t finalized the bill, but said it could be introduced soon. It has not been determined how much the surcharge would be.
The Phoenix area already has high car rental taxes, with current rates totaling 18.53 percent.
McComish understands the skepticism from other teams, but he pointed out that the Cubs have a substantial regional economic impact and draw fans to other Cactus League parks.
“When the other teams play the Cubs, they sell out. It’s to their benefit,” he said.
McComish said he’s looking at long-term revenue streams to help the entire league, not just the Cubs.
Keeping the Cubs in Mesa has the backing of key lawmakers, including House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa. Adams confirmed that ticket surcharges and car rental tax increases could be part of the Cubs package.
“The Cubs are a $138 million impact on the economy annually,” Adams said.
BAD TIMING

Legislators also may face criticism if they fast-track taxes for the Cubs as they cut education and social welfare programs in the face of a multibillion-dollar deficit.
“It’s a tough climate to be making those kind of promises,” said Gretchen Jacobs, president of Arizona Governmental Affairs, a lobbying firm in Phoenix.
Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said in addition to ticket surcharges and higher car rental taxes, Mesa voters will be asked to approve bond money as well as infrastructure and services spending for the new complex. Brady said tentative plans call for two-thirds of the $84 million to come from regional sources and one-third from the city. That translates into a split of $56 million to $28 million. McComish said the split could be more even.