This does not seem insurmountable to me either. The biggest philosophical shift required is the City to accept that there is some incremental benefit to them to having a state of the art arena in Calgary, that over time will benefit them. 35 years is a long time to recover $150-200 million. Discounted at 5% this is like 9-12m per year. How about the Flames guarantee a $5m donation to amateur sport in Calgary per year and call it even? Is it unreasonable to think that the net economic benefit of a state of the art arena is less than $5m per year? People need to think beyond pure property tax impact. Every incremental dollar brought into the city helps the economy.
|