City Council Hearing Aims To Strip MSG Of Property Tax Break
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Dolan Skips Council Committee Meeting
On Possibly Rescinding MSG's Tax Break |
The N.Y. City Council's Finance Committee yesterday held a hearing on "a resolution to strip [MSG] of a tax break that it has enjoyed for a quarter of a century and that now costs the city treasury more than $11[M] a year," according to Clyde Haberman of the N.Y. TIMES. While the council hopes to end the practice, the most it can do is "pass a resolution to that effect." The state legislature has the final decision, but there is "no sign of legislative life on this score." The hearing, which MSG Chair Jim Dolan did not attend, drew questions from council members asking why MSG "is being singled out when other major sports teams ... receive tax breaks and subsidies worth hundreds of millions of dollars." Others questioned why the hearing was limited to sports. Good Jobs N.Y. Dir Bettina Damiani said, "The time to end taxpayer giveaways to well-connected and powerful businesses is now." Haberman notes Dolan's absence was "perhaps the most striking aspect of the hearing," as he was represented by a Chicago-based consultant. An MSG spokesperson said Dolan has talked with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and has "agreed to discuss this issue with him at the appropriate time" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/8).
LEAVING THE DOOR OPEN: In N.Y., Brian Kates reports City Council Speaker Christine Quinn "spoke in support of a resolution calling on the state Legislature to repeal the exemption," but left the door open for talks about "payments in lieu of taxes for the Garden 'if and when a new arena is built.'" Independent Budget Office (IBO) Senior Economist Theresa Devine expressed concern over the "open-ended nature of the benefit," citing the NHL lockout. Devine: "The city lost the fiscal benefit from the spending by teams and fans for over 40 games, but the full exemption was allowed." However, HVS Convention, Sports & Entertainment Facilities Consulting Managing Dir and MSG consultant Thomas Hazinski said, "The value of [MSG's] property tax exemption is substantially less than the level of government support for the other three recent deals in New York." Hazinski cited an IBO analysis by noting with their respective new facilities, the Yankees will collect over $600M in public support and $144M in property tax breaks, the Mets will receive $440M and a $72M break and the Nets will get $340M and $14M in tax breaks (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/8).
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