Oakland and Alameda County taxpayers "will have to pump
an additional" $30M this FY into the city's Coliseum sports
complex, according to Renee Koury of the SAN JOSE MERCURY
NEWS, who wrote that it is the "third straight year of major
public handouts to keep the Raiders, Athletics and Warriors
in Oakland." The projected subsidy "comes on top of the"
$36M taxpayers "forked over last year, and" $16M the year
before. Officials "had expected fans to cover the cost of
the sports deals without taxpayer funds, but sales of
Raiders seat licenses fell short, among other problems."
Koury noted that the sports subsidies "come from general
funds, but the city and county so far have been able to
avoid cutting services." The county "plans to use fees from
delinquent property taxes to cover" its $15M share this
year. Koury wrote that stadium officials said that "they
were encouraged because the subsidy is lower than last
year's," and about $8M of one-time costs "should be
eliminated next year" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/15). But
Alameda County Auditor-Controller Patrick O'Connell said
that "unless fans start streaming into the stadium in
unprecedented numbers, Oakland and the county are expected
to lose a total" of $16-20M a year (C.C. TIMES, 7/15).
