Bengals sticking it to the taxpayers again
From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
I'm not sure who wrote the lease, or if the lease is standard for the NFL (it seems NFL teams hold local governments hostage pretty regularly), but it sure does stick it to the taxpayer. Team owners rake in all the profits while taxpayers pay for stadium upgrades? That's just crazy.
With how much the taxpayer has thrown in on this deal, tickets should be free to residents of Hamilton County.
That's not how it works, unfortunately. But good thing Phil Heimlich is there to save the day:
Let's see if Phil Heimlich can actually do something about it in the dwindling few weeks of his final term.
Hamilton County taxpayers are getting ready to pay the Bengals $900,000 for the turf at Paul Brown Stadium.
The team installed the synthetic turf before the 2004 season after complaints about the grass the stadium had since its 2000 opening.
Hamilton County owns the stadium but leases it to the team. A clause in the lease calls for the government to pay for stadium upgrades - technology, turf and others - if they are done in other stadiums home to National Football League teams.
I'm not sure who wrote the lease, or if the lease is standard for the NFL (it seems NFL teams hold local governments hostage pretty regularly), but it sure does stick it to the taxpayer. Team owners rake in all the profits while taxpayers pay for stadium upgrades? That's just crazy.
With how much the taxpayer has thrown in on this deal, tickets should be free to residents of Hamilton County.
That's not how it works, unfortunately. But good thing Phil Heimlich is there to save the day:
"This is another example of how unfair this (lease) is to the taxpayers of Hamilton County," said Commissioner Phil Heimlich, who supported a county lawsuit against the team and league seeking to get hundreds of millions of dollars returned to the government.
"There's no limit to the number of gadgets they can buy and charge to the taxpayer."
Let's see if Phil Heimlich can actually do something about it in the dwindling few weeks of his final term.
Labels: Cincinnati, Downtown, Sports
Bengal Bob Bedinghaus should be behind bars for making this shitty deal on behalf of the Bengals when he was supposed to represent the taxpayers. Then he has the nerve to go work for the Bengals as soon as his term was up.
Posted by Anonymous | 12:34 PM