Miller Park's stadium tax, which has been in effect since '96 and has long been criticized, will end by March '20GETTY IMAGES
The five-county sales tax that "financed the construction and operation of Miller Park is set to end a year from now," according to a front-page piece by Joe Taschler of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Members of the board that oversees the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District voted yesterday to "proceed with plans to end the Miller Park stadium tax" by March '20. The 0.1% tax, "paid by residents and visitors in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha and Racine counties," has been in effect since '96. Miller Park Stadium District Board Chair Don Smiley said, "The amounts of money needed to comply with the lease that we have with the Milwaukee Brewers will have been collected by that time." Taschler notes the tax has "long been a lightning rod for criticism." The tax repays $290M in "construction debt plus interest" for the ballpark, which opened in April '01 (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/13). In Milwaukee, Rich Kirchen notes the only "variable that could cause the tax to be extended further would be an unexpected and dramatic decline in tax collections" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/13).
