Hampden Park has been "hit with a whopping rates hike" of 35%, fueling "fears it could be ditched as the home of Scottish football," according to Gary Ralston of the Scotland DAILY RECORD. Holyrood finance execs are "poised to impose crippling rises across Scottish business," some of up to 300%, and many Scottish Professional Football League clubs will "also take a hit." Independent evaluations carried out in early '15 will come into effect from April 1, "with the rateable value of the national stadium increasing" from £1M ($1.2M) to £1.35M ($1.7M). Execs at Hampden Park Ltd., which owns the stadium, have been "so stunned by the scale of the rise they are now considering an appeal." Most businesses pay around 50 pence to the pound "of their rateable value as tax," which means an increase for Hampden bosses of approximately £175,000 ($217,800) per year for the next five years. The Scottish FA has already "commissioned an independent review" to assess its options ahead of renegotiations for the lease of the Mount Florida venue, which was last agreed to in '00 and expires in '20 (DAILY RECORD, 2/15).
PAY UP: In a separate piece, Ralston reported Scottish football fans have been "warned they may have to bear the brunt of rates rises by paying more" to watch their clubs in action. Controversial rises in business rates are "set to hit many clubs hard" with teams such as Dundee, Ross County, Inverness Caley Thistle and Hamilton facing increases of at least 45%. Audit, tax and consulting firm RSM partner Alistair Dickson said, "The market determines what people pay for a quality product and if tens of thousands of pounds are being added to the rateable value of clubs it could lead to an increase in matchday ticket and season-ticket prices." The rise in business rates "is an issue of huge controversy, not least across the leisure industry" with Scottish Licensed Trade Association leader Paul Waterson recently predicting "armageddon" in the pub, hotel and restaurant sector (DAILY RECORD, 2/15).
