The Cavaliers have been using their own money to pay for major capital repairs up to $500,000ROCKET MORTGAGE FIELDHOUSE
The Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Council is considering whether to issue $40M in bonds to reimburse the Cavaliers for "repairs the county is required to cover under the team’s lease agreement on Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse," according to Courtney Astolfi of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. Another measure under consideration would refinance $40M of the $60M in bonds sold by the county in '15 as an "advance on revenues from the county’s so-called sin tax." The money set aside for repairs at the venue "has been used up, and the Cavs have been using their own money to pay for major capital repairs up to $500,000, which the county is required to fund under the lease." The sin tax on alcohol and tobacco sales generates about $7.5M per year per team, and the "cost of repairs over the last four years alone has far outpaced that average income." Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse CEO Len Komoroski said that the lease "does not speak to how the county money generates that money." He added that the "expectation is that the county and the Cavs will continue to meet their lease obligations." Meanwhile, the Indians paid for about $7.5M in Progressive Field repairs beyond their initial $37M. The Indians have "not asked for reimbursement" for that $7.5M, so they will "not receive money from the proposed bond issue" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 5/29).
