Charlotte City Council member James Mitchell on Saturday said that the North Carolina General Assembly "likely won’t grant Charlotte a tax increase to pay for renovations at Bank of America Stadium, but he’s still committed to finding" $144M for the NFL Panthers, according to Steve Harrison of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Mitchell said that the city will "try again this week to persuade the legislature to increase the local prepared food and beverage tax by a half-cent to help the Panthers." He added that the city "won’t attempt to cover the $62.5 million requested from the state." Mitchell: "We won't go higher than $144 million." It is "unclear how the Panthers would respond if the city gives the team $144 million but the state doesn’t offer any money" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/24). In Charlotte, Morrill & Harrison in a front-page piece noted of the 20 stadiums built or renovated since '97, "all but one have used public money." However, the Panthers' proposal is "difficult to compare to other recent deals." Their proposal is "similar to how much taxpayers will pay in Buffalo each year to anchor their team to the area" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/24).
