The Milwaukee Professional Baseball Park District Board
voted 11-2 last night to maintain the Brewers stadium sales tax
and allow design work to resume on a new ballpark, according to
Kenneth Lamke of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. The tenth-of-a-
cent, five-county stadium sales tax was to be suspended on May 1
unless the team came up with its share of financing for their new
$250M stadium. While a financing package was not finalized, WI
Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) officials said
it could take another six to eight weeks of "discussion before
they know if the plan is workable." WHEDA would lend the team
$50M, sharing with NationsBank, using team revenue and a claim on
the franchise itself as collateral. Another $40M would come from
the sale of naming rights to Miller and sale of concession
rights, while $160M would come from the stadium sales tax. Any
shortfall would be covered by a commitment from local businesses
to guarantee up to $5M in loans to the team and the American
League to guarantee up to $10M in loans. Board member Stephen
Agostini proposed requiring the team be offered for sale to local
investors if they ever defaulted, but AL President Gene Budig
said the "league would not approve that requirement or 'any such
requirement that took ownership away from the league.'" Earlier
in the day, investment bankers "urged the board to send a signal
that the project is moving forward so that they can sell the
bonds to finance the project" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/16).
Budig said the '99 MLB All-Star Game is still targeted for
Milwaukee, but it will be lost if the stadium project is not put
on the fast track (Tom Haudricourt, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL,
4/16).
