Currently, Bucks players generate $6.5 million in income tax revenue annually with the reasonable expectation that this amount will only continue to grow.
Walker said that it would cost Wisconsin taxpayers much more money if the team were to relocate.
“We think this is a good, solid move, as good stewards of the taxpayers’ money”, Walker said.
Walker originally dedicated $220 million in state funding towards the arena’s building, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said.
The bill passed the state legislature last month, with bipartisan support.
We’re hearing a lot of denunciations of corporate welfare and crony capitalism. It will be paid over the next 20 years.
I should say upfront that, if you want to get nit-picky about it, the two figures aren’t exactly comparable. According to the New York Times, a company registered to one of Hammes’ family members donated 0,000 in May to a super PAC supporting Walker. Seattle has been chasing a team for years, going back to New Orleans, through Sacramento (which seemed like a done deal before the National Basketball Association stepped in to intervene) and most recently with hopes the Milwaukee deal would fail. The Bucks now play in the BMO Harris Bradley Center, which is widely considered dated. The small space lacks the amenities of modern arenas and has been blamed for some of the team’s problems. The total cost has been pegged at $500 million.
This is not an unusual arrangement for Wisconsin.
Bucks president Peter Feigin said the team now expect to breaks ground for the new arena sometime in October or November, noting that the project will bring finally bring development to a long-dormant section of downtown.
Though the state bill will become law this week, the economically depressed city of Milwaukee has yet to vote on its own portion of the financing.
“How does he explain it to undecided or Republican primary voters?”
This wasn’t Republican or Democrat.
The Bucks have not started a season with a home game since October 27, 1984, when they met the Chicago Bulls at the Milwaukee Arena. Despite having been in Milwaukee for almost fifty years, the Bucks do not have nearly the same statewide following nor the same level of brand recognition as the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. Because what Wisconsin has is a governor who is willing to excise a massive chunk of his state’s education budget in the name of fiscal prudence while flushing hundreds of millions of dollars down the drain in order to subsidize a fancy arena. Also, just tell everyone you have no money.
