For the record, I am changing my opinion on a CRL. After researching it more I do believe it falls into the bucket of "using public funds".
But not in the straight handout sense. It is more of an investment of public funds. Effectively, the city is giving up $250M of future property tax revenues to bring forward property tax revenues that would be even further down the road.
It's not wrong to assume that the arena will spur development and therefore generate more tax revenue sooner. The key is whether or not the present value of that accelerated tax revenue exceeds $250M. That would determine if it is a positive investment of public funds.
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