Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Thursday said that the city and Milwaukee County are "prepared to contribute a combined" $50M toward a proposed downtown arena project for the Bucks, according to Rich Kirchen of the MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Barrett, amid ongoing criticism from Republican state legislative leaders, said that the city cannot exceed $25M "because he doesn't want to tap city tax property money." He added that the $50M in city and county contributions "would address Gov. Scott Walker’s January arena funding proposal" that called for $50M "from sources other than the state." Walker initially proposed $220M "in state-issue bonds for the arena, but even Walker has acknowledged in recent days the Legislature is unlikely to support the plan." Barrett said that he "still supports" Walker’s $220M arena-bonds plan. He added that he also "likes Walker’s proposal to make debt payments" on the $220M in bonds "with increased income tax collections" from NBAers in the coming years (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/2). In Milwaukee, Walker & Stein in a front-page piece report Gov. Walker's plan "did not specifically cite" a $50M city-county contribution. However, he said that the $220M "he had in mind for bonding would only be released after $300 million in 'other funding' is secured." That other funding includes the $250M Bucks co-Owners Wes Edens and Marc Lasry and former team Owner Herb Kohl "agreed to commit." County Exec Chris Abele said that he is "working on an alternative plan for the city-county contribution that can bring more value to the project." Walker & Stein report the Bucks "have been showing selected groups and stakeholders renderings of what the arena would look like and have provided some details of a multiphase development plan over the next 10 or more years." Sources said that "new housing, some office space and a 50,000-square-foot restaurant and bar area would likely figure in the first phase," with the initial amount of investment estimated at $80-150M (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/3).
