Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati "will ultimately cost
taxpayers" more than $605M, including financing and a $350M
price tag for construction and land acquisition, according
to Don Monk in a CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER estimate. The
new cost estimate of $350M and the total estimated payment
of $605M "dwarf previous projections," including recent
reports that the stadium construction cost would reach
$300M. The county "will probably pay as much as" $50M for
land needed for the stadium, and will "likely finance" all
but $40M of the $350M total over a 25-year period. At
"current interest rates," the county's financing costs for
just the Bengals' stadium would "gobble" nearly 65% of the
annual $35M in revenue generated by the county's sales tax
"that was to be used" for both the Bengals and Reds. But
Reds Managing Exec John Allen said that they have been
"assured" by Hamilton County that "there is enough money for
the project and it hasn't progressed beyond that." Hamilton
County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus: "Without question, we
continue to have enough revenue to complete the entire
project, and that project from the beginning has included a
football field and baseball park" (BUSINESS COURIER, 8/18).
