Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce President Timothy Sheehy yesterday said that the community “needs to discuss ‘at an appropriate time’ the idea of extending the Miller Park stadium sales tax as a way of funding a new arena” for the Bucks, according to Don Walker of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Sheehy “floated the idea at a civic forum” and said that he “already had begun to form a group of business leaders who have been meeting informally on not only possible extension of the 0.1% stadium sales tax as a means of financing a new facility, but other options.” The group also “wants to see if there's a way to sell naming rights at the Bradley Center's various entrances without giving up the name of the arena.” Walker notes the idea of “extending the stadium sales tax is not new, but it has never gained political and civic traction in a time of budget deficits, anti-tax sentiment and a struggling school system.” Sheehy “repeated what Bradley Center officials have been saying for years: The arena, built in 1988, is aging and is not capable of generating new revenue for an NBA franchise.” Sheehy stressed that “a new facility is needed.” Bucks Owner Herb Kohl last week said that he “remained optimistic that a way will be found to build a new arena.” Consultants hired by the Miller Park stadium district have said that, depending “on the health of the economy, the sales tax could end as soon as 2016 or possibly as late as 2018” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 5/19).
