A new downtown Milwaukee arena "would cost the public at least" $400M -- "including interest -- under the draft plan" the Bucks, state and local officials are putting together, according to sources cited in a front-page piece by Daniel Bice of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. That figure is "up from the original estimate" of about $250M, which would "represent a mix of bonding, taxes, debt collections and other forms of public financing." But that figure "did not factor in interest on those items." Officials are "focusing on the decision to backload the payments on zero-coupon bonds that would be issued by the Wisconsin Center District to help underwrite the new arena." Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said that the latest version of the plan is "much better for the state than the original proposal" made by Gov. Scott Walker. Vos "predicted the Republican-controlled Legislature will vote to back the arena deal and keep" the Bucks in Milwaukee. Vos said, "Once all the facts are known, if I had to lay odds, I'd say the odds are pretty good -- though I haven't done a count yet." Bice notes the full proposal is "still being developed, though the broad outline is already in place." Supporters "hope to have it available soon" -- possibly by tomorrow -- so the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee "can insert it in the state budget." All together, the public's stake "would break down" to $200M from the Wisconsin Center District; $80M from the state and $80M from the county debt collections (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 6/1).
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER...: A JOURNAL SENTINEL editorial stated, "Let's close the deal and build a new arena in downtown Milwaukee. It isn't often that a community can pour a half-billion dollars into revitalization in a single stroke. This is one of those rare opportunities. ... There are risks here but the negotiators have minimized the exposure for taxpayers and found creative ways to dig up the money required to take advantage of $250 million in private investment. Just as there are risks in acting, there are risks in doing nothing. A region that believes in itself acts. And now is the time to act" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 5/31).
