The Green Bay/Brown County (Wisc.) Professional Football Stadium District "has the option of dissolving" after the sales tax that paid for the '03 renovation of Lambeau Field is terminated in September, but it "also can continue" at least until the Packers' lease expires in '31, according to Richard Ryman of the GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE. The end of the sales tax "could set up a fight over the board's future because the city of Green Bay would like it to dissolve, but the Packers appear to have the vote that counts." Beneficiaries of an ongoing stadium board "would include the Packers, the local convention and tourism industry, and anyone who thinks Lambeau Field should be used for more than football." The district "does not need to do anything to continue, so it's under no deadline to decide." The city and the stadium board are parties to the lease, and the legislation that created the stadium district indicates that it "must clear all of its contractual obligations before going out of business, so the Packers would have to agree to renegotiate the lease with the city." The Packers "are happy with the current arrangement." The Packers will pay the city $920,000 for use of Lambeau Field in '15, but Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt said that the city "gets nothing for the improvements the Packers made." Other income streams "will continue after the sales tax ends." The stadium board "is recipient of, or manages, money from Packers license plate sales, memorial brick and tile sales," a 10% sales tax on tickets for Lambeau Field events, special events parking and season-ticket user fees. That "is in addition to the district's capital improvements fund" of more than $13M and its economic development fund of about $2M (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 5/14).
