My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:
Either way, it is clear that there is bipartisan support, from the politicians, at least, to have the taxpayers upgrade the Brewers’ home field. Should we?
When it comes to spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, we must set sentimentality aside. Wisconsinites love their Brewers, but that does not mean that we should use the violent coercive power of government to extract money from all state citizens to pay for it. Outside of the contractual obligations for the district to pay for upgrades required by Major League Baseball, any further taxpayer funding must be evaluated according to firm financial principles and projections.
Will the taxpayers’ investment provide a return to the people that makes it worthwhile? Are there other options? Could the district sell the stadium to the Brewers or another private group? What is the cost of doing nothing and the Brewers leave? Who is responsible if there are expenses not uncovered by the various studies? At the end of the day, even if the financial projections justify an investment by the taxpayers, can the people really afford it in this economic climate? Sometimes even good investments must be passed over because there are better ways to spend the money.
The taxpayers deserve a transparent, rigorous, detailed financial discussion before lawmakers spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a baseball stadium and obligate them to yet more decades of obligation to a private, for-profit company. The fact that Evers and Vos seem to agree on the need for funding the stadium should not be viewed as a bipartisan breakthrough. It should be viewed with skepticism and suspicion.
That would make WI taxpayers’ equity about $800 MILLION when you count the original $400 MILLION.
The team is worth $1.2 BILLION, meaning the taxpayers put in the majority of the valuation.
Where’s our share of the profits??
Hmm.
Let’s see.
For the investment, how much money does the state get for Brewer taxes? Player salaries? Other employee salaries? Taxes on tickets and concessions? Taxes on tailgate supplies? Brewer revenues from TV? And opposing player taxes.
And then associated businesses taxes like local restaurants and bars.
So, there are your profits.
Let’s say that there are 100 players and other employees paying Wisconsin income tax at the top rate of ~7% (blended) and every one of them is earning $1,000,000.00.
That’s $70,000,000 in income tax revenue. Not exactly a Large Gift, is it? What about if each of them were earning $5,000,000.00? Gee!! That would be $350 million in tax revenue, or about what Evers wants to spend this time.
But we know that is ridiculous, just like saying the taxpayers’ $800 MILLION investment (as proposed) gets paid back.
Employee salary is just a small part of it, if you bothered read my whole post.
Tix tax is so minor that it–like concessions tax–is irrelevant. Surprised you didn’t catch that. And “Brewers revenue on TeeeVeeee” is …….ahhh………BREWERS revenue, not taxpayer revenue.
Do the bars have Brewer-related revenues which are in the 9-figure area?
Thought so.
Oh, Dad. With about 2,500,000 fans attending last year, but with the tax on tickets, the tax on sales in the stadium, the tax on parking and and the radio and TV revenue.
In 1 year, in 2021, the Brewers had at least $220,000,000, what do you think the tax will be on that?
And then expand that over 20 years.
Yes, a good investment.
Let’s be generous and figure they’re at $250MM this year. That’s about $12.5MM in tax. Not spit compared to $800 MILLION, is it?
Is it the drag shows you’re trying to support?? Maybe they should have 10/year?
All that is unimportant, guys. It is a chance to spend money, of course it has bi-partisan support.
Minor edit: It is a chance to spend OTHER PEOPLE’S money, of course it has bi-partisan support.
Oh, Dad, how poorly you read.
Do you just fail to read intentionally or is it a just a disability?
@ Daddio and Mar: Um, guys? I take it neither of you work for H&R Block ;)
That’s $70,000,000 in income tax revenue.
$1,000,000 x 100 people = $100,000,000. $100m x 7% is $7m, not $70m.
But WI’s take would be less than $7m because WI income is post Fed tax. A $1m salary is only $630k* to WI.
100 $1m players/employees would be giving up only $4,410,000+/- to WI. 100 $5m players/employees = $22,050,000+/-.
in 2021, the Brewers had at least $220,000,000, what do you think the tax will be on that? And then expand that over 20 years
If you are talking salaries, $9,702,000*. If you are talking sales tax, $11,000,000 Whoopdee -f’n–do. Even combined, after 20 years, it would be a wash of Phony nEvers $300,000,000 “upgrade” (don’t forget inflation! ….check that…. normal inflation).
*marginal rates, single filer, no deductions (not even standard)
Dad29:
The politicians pay taxes too (as far as we know), but I 100% endorse your edit. I figured when talking politicians, spending ‘other people’s money’ is taken for granted, even if there were no graft or other corruption, that would still be true.
That’s a pretty sweet business those Brewers are running.
Build them a palace, promise to keep up with the Joneses for them, and maybe they’ll agree to keep living there. Quite the sugar daddy they’ve found, eh?
MJM: I’m only good with numbers less than 6 figures and I use Turbo-Tax.
And yes, Merlin, that’s a helluva deal. The term “sugar daddy” comes to mind but Attanasio never even offered a kiss, much less……..umhphonhuu
S’ok, Daddio. I was just tryin to make your point WAY bigger. (I use TT also, cuz its easier to use one screen vs. a desk strewn with forms).
Also, I read somewhere some time ago that us taxees are in for $1.3 BILLION on this stadium thing so far.
MJM, you forgot about sales taxes, which is much bigger than any income tax.
From parking, to programs, to food to ticket sales, to the food for tailgating, to local restaurants and bars on game day to beer sales at the ballpark and the taxes Miller and others pay for their sales at the stadium.
So, if you include the income tax on players and employees, sales tax and other taxable income like tax on the revenues from TV and radio stations that cover the Brewers and expand it over say 20 years, it’s a good investment.
Hey Mar… for making comments like
>Oh, Dad, how poorly you read.
and
>Do you just fail to read intentionally or is it a just a disability?
You seem to have missed this from MJM.
“If you are talking sales tax, $11,000,000 Whoopdee ”
>sales tax and other taxable income like tax on the revenues from TV and radio stations that cover the Brewers and expand it over say 20 years, it’s a good investment.
No. It’s not a good investment.
>No. It’s not a good investment.
Good ideas and good investments have zero problems finding private capital. You go to the taxpayers when you can’t attract that private capital. Legitimate investors expect a reasonable return on their investment or they simply don’t participate. Taxpayer spending on the Brewers is nothing more than pure perpetual vanity spending disguised as a bad investment. MjM’s 1.3B (1.1B-1.6B) price tag is accurate and will only increase until it culminates in replacing an aged-out structure with another brand new one.
Voters declined the opportunity to participate in this particular vanity project (by non-binding referendum) long ago, but the politicians did it anyway.
@Mar: “MJM, you forgot about sales taxes, which is much bigger than any income tax.”
As I said earlier, it’s obvious you don’t work for H&R Block… and certainly not Deloitte.
An analysis commissioned by Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and conducted by Conventions, Sports & Leisure International almost exactly three years ago concluded:
On an annual basis, the operations of the Team and Ballpark generate approximately $16.8 million in net new tax revenue to the State, $1.8 million to the County, and $1.8 million to the City, Over the course of the previous 21 years, it is estimated that the operations of the Team and Ballpark have generated approximately $262.9 million in net new tax revenues to the State, $25.2 million to the County, and $24.3 million to the City.
Those revenue totals, from a pro-stadium lobby group, includes personal income taxes, and in-stadium/out-stadium (your “food for tailgating, to local restaurants and bars”) tax revenue.
It cost WI taxpayers $400,000,000 – originally touted as $250m – to build Miller Park.
Please explain how a “good investment”, just to build the thing, was still down $90,000,000, or 23%, after 21 years.
Of course, all those numbers don’t include the hundreds of millions paid by taxpayers to maintain/fix/upgrade over the last 22 years. Nor does it included the BrewCrew’s $115million they themselves have contributed.
And lets not forget that included in Phony nEvers’ $300,000,000 taxpayer dump is a proposal to extend the unused land owned by the Stadium District free from property taxes… forever.
>Of course, all those numbers don’t include the hundreds of millions paid by taxpayers to maintain/fix/upgrade over the last 22 years.
You mean like that fancy Led banner displays that the Brewers just had to have a dozen or so years ago… Or they were going to leave. Yeah that kept the tri-county 1/2% sales tax going for an extended period.
So, is Milwaukee better off without the Brewers?
Should the Brewers leave?
There are many places that would love a major league baseball team.
Would you like the Brewers to leave Milwaukee?
The Legislature should get into a stare-down instead of just pimping the taxpayers to Attanasio……..again. “Plenty of places” might look at $800 million or so and say “Nope!”
So, is Milwaukee better off without the Brewers?
That’s for MKE to decide, a decision to be made with a requirement that they do not stick their hands into the pockets of state taxpayers.
Should the Brewers leave?
That’s up to Attanasio.
There are many places that would love a major league baseball team.
And, so….?
Would you like the Brewers to leave Milwaukee?
Under the current situation and Phony’s new dump, absolutely.
You wanna subsidize Yelich’s $188,000,000 contract? (He was paid $10,000,000 more last year than all that fabulous tax revenue “gained” by everyone in the state). By all means, buy tickets, spend $20 on parking, $15 on a single beer, $50 on an “official” ball cap. At least you are doing it voluntarily.
Just don’t force me to, bub.
“That’s for MKE to decide”
I disagree. Just like the Packers and Bucks, the Brewers are more of a state team.
So, if the Brewers leave, you will be left with an empty stadium except for a couple concerts a year.
And who does that benefit?
I suppose you can turn the luxury boxes into condos, I suppose
So, if the Brewers leave, you will be left with an empty stadium except for a couple concerts a year.
And who does that benefit?
No, friend.
Who does that HARM?
Nobody.
All those taverns and eateries along Bluemound Road near the Stadium survived the loss of the Braves, remember? The State’s population grew during the non-baseball period, as did tax collections and individual incomes, with the usual bumps and grinds. Roads were built and maintained, buildings went up in Downtown………
True, lobbyists had to find other ways to spend money buying politicians since there was no big-league baseball. Beer- and peanut-vendors (teachers) had to find other part-time summer employment. Awwww. And people living in the Fox Cities? Gee–I never heard of them marching on Milwaukee to demand entertainment.
They won’t be missed, Mar. Get over it.
“Who does that HARM?
Nobody.”
It harms the current employees.
It harms the suppliers to the stadium and their employees
It harms hotels and restaurants and their employees when the Brewers have a home game.
It harms cab drivers who will lose business because they won’t have anyone to take to the stadium.
It harms the State and County’s reputation.
It harms the fans, millions of them throughout the country.
It also affects people here in sunny Arizona (well, today at least, tomorrow we’re supposed to get a 13 inch snowstorm) where the Brewers play in spring training. We subside the stadiums here but we don’t complain because we are smart enough to know that spring training brings in money and is a good investment.
>That’s for MKE to decide, a decision to be made with a requirement that they do not stick their hands into the pockets of state taxpayers.
They would never give the county’s taxpayers another opportunity to decline funding the Brewers. You can’t give a voice to people who would turn you down a second time. Their original attempt at creative financing expanded the screwing to five counties to generate enough tax revenue. That scam met with such minor resistance that the pols now feel free to randomly shower the Brewers with a few hundred million in state revenue. They ain’t asking for anyone’s input. It’s a done deal.
Just pay your taxes, peasants.
Taxpayers help subsidize Lambeau Field.
Let’s get rid of the Packers as well.
Why would you get rid of the Packers? Brown County voters approved their spending referendums. They agreed to be taxed for improvements to Lambeau. They see economic value to the community.
Milwaukee County voters were offered an advisory referendum on Miller Park and voted it down. Voters were not sold on the team’s economic value to the community. Still aren’t convinced that it’s anything more than vanity spending. Did voters of the other four counties made to pay for Miller Park even get a vote?
Who in Douglas County (or any other county) got a vote on the few hundred million state tax dollars Tony Terrific now wants to throw at the Brewers? I rather doubt the Brewers generate any additional local revenue for the hotels, motels, bars, and restaurants in Douglas County. Or any other county. Packers? Absolutely. Brewers? Nah.
You got the vote through your legislators.
There are many things I disagree with government spending but I have no choice because the idiots we elect think otherwise.
And I am sure the State pays for things in Douglas County that Milwaukee county residents don’t like or don’t use.
And how do the Packers generate income in Douglas County? Probably more Viking fans than Packer fans there.
the Brewers are more of a state team.
The you should have asked if the state would be better off.
Actually, you needn’t ask that at all. The obvious answer was already presented.
Taxpayers help subsidize Lambeau Field. Let’s get rid of the Packers as well.
In 100+ years of operation the Packers organization has received a total of 9.6 million dollars from state taxpayers. And that, a one time expenditure, was used to redesign and rebuild the aging exit/on ramps to I-41 and connecting roads near the stadium for safety and congestion-relieving reasons.
All other tax money used has been local/county and, as Merlin noted, approved by local/county residents. The last three Lambeau renovations/additions/upgrades, totaling some $250m, have been paid for entirely by the Packers’ organization themselves even though it is the City of Green Bay that owns it.
The Bucks, which nobody north of Portage gives a shit about, received a $250m subsidy from state taxees for their new Milwaukee building. What Merlin didn’t mention is the fact that, like Miller Park, a referendum for a local tax subsidy was on the table. But when polling showed nearly 70% disapproved the g’vment slobs shelved the referendum and just shoved it down the rest of our throats.
The Brewers, as we have described, pretty much have gotten a free ride in using $1.3 billion in tax money subsidy. And looking for more.
Interesting that you promote losing money ad infinitum.
As for AZ, you have a lot more cartel-owned g’vment fraud issues that a few hundred grand in training camp revenue ain’t gonna fix. And if the BrewCrew leaves WI, who says they’ll stop stopping by in spring time by you?
It harms the current employees.
Pro baseball staffers will move along with the Brewers to the next Suckerville. Hot-dog sales people will have to find another job during the summer, like being a lifeguard, parks worker, road-builder. You may have heard that employers are hiring the walking dead, Mar.
It harms the suppliers to the stadium and their employees
Yah, the breweries will go out of business right quick, just like the sausage-makers. That’s exactly what happened last time……..oh……….wait……….
It harms hotels and restaurants and their employees when the Brewers have a home game.
Nope. The Pfister didn’t drop dead when the Braves left town, nor did the Schroeder, nor any other two-bit no-tell motel.
It harms cab drivers who will lose business because they won’t have anyone to take to the stadium.
All nine of them. Are you SERIOUS? Cabs are dead. Uber/Lyft is alive. Yes, they’ll miss some fares.
It harms the State and County’s reputation.
Prove it. That’s the Bee Ess line of the century: “We’re a Major League Town!!!!” Compared to what?
It harms the fans, millions of them throughout the country.
So the Brewers are going out of business altogether? Oh, well. So did Allis-Chalmers, which, I assure you, cost many thousands of employees (25K, actually) very nice incomes. I’d rather have Allis-Chalmers back than some TeeeVeee vanity project.