IL Gov. Jim Edgar's proposed "McDome" would require
taxpayers to contribute more than $1.35B over the next 20 years
"because of a peculiar payoff schedule," according to the
Arlington Heights DAILY HERALD. Jim Allen reports the high cost
of the facility is a "sore spot" with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
and suburban Republican legislators. Under Edgar's payment plan,
dome bonds would cost taxpayers seven times the amount of the
original loan, unlike conventional mortgages, which require
paybacks of three-times the original cost. Edgar proposes the
bulk of the $415M cost go unpaid until 2018, resulting in a "pile
on" of compounding interest. An Edgar spokesperson defended the
plan as "the way public works projects are financed" (DAILY
HERALD, 2/19). In a piece in Sunday's CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Daley
consultant Ed Bedore raises the following questions: Where will
the city come up with its $25M contribution?; Who will pay for
the $15M annual operations costs?; Can the Bears sell 179 luxury
boxes and be the first team to sell 100% of its seats through
PSLs? (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/19).
