BY LAURA GOLDBERG
and GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Despite objections from show producers and the Bengals, Cincinnati City Council signaled Monday it was moving ahead with an increase in the city's admission tax next year.
The increase - from 3 percent to 5 percent on tickets to all
for-profit events, including Reds and Bengals games - is designed to generate $5 million a year for 20 years for the Cincinnati Public Schools. Council has been working on a plan to meet that commitment, which it made as part of a city-county deal to pave the way for a sales tax increase to pay for new Reds and Bengals stadiums.
Monday, council directed City Manager John Shirey to do some additional tax calculations, but a majority of council appears ready to approve an increase June 2.
''Council is moving toward consensus and getting behind the 2 percent admissions tax increase,'' said Mayor Roxanne Qualls. ''It's good for the children. It's good for the city, and it's least burdensome on the people who will be paying.''
If fans are asked to pay the entire 5 percent, the average Bengals ticket, projected to be $42.50 in 2000, would go up by $2.10 under Mr. Shirey's plan.
It would add about 60 cents to the average Reds ticket, projected to be $12 in 2003.
The 5 percent admissions tax proposal is a drop from the initial plan to raise it as much as
8.85 percent effective in 2000.
Meanwhile, with his team on the verge of signing a new lease with Hamilton County by June 1, Bengals President and General Manager Mike Brown said the tax won't snag the deal.
''It's an unexpected burden, but not a deal breaker,'' Mr. Brown said Monday from the NFL owners' meetings in San Diego.
''I'll repeat what I've always said: We don't favor it. It's bad for the city. And we argue the city has sufficient money coming in from the current tax to handle the expense.''
According to their current lease agreements, both the Reds and the Bengals can offset an admissions tax increase by reducing their rent payments. That would leave Cinergy Field's landlord, Hamilton County, short by some amount for as long as the current leases last.
The Bengals' lease runs through the 1999 season. The Reds have a lease at Cinergy until 2010 but will be negotiating a new lease as well.
According to a 1995 agreement with the county, the city promised not to hinder rent payments or other Cinergy Field revenue when the stadium was turned over to county control last September.
County commissioners said Monday they would object to the city collecting the tax without paying something to make up for the county's lost rent.
Council directed Mr. Shirey to tabulate how much the city would be liable to the county under the terms of the current leases because of an increase.
Mr. Shirey is to report back on whether the 5 percent tax would generate enough money to cover such payments to the county. If not, one option would be raising the tax beyond 5 percent.
In addition to the 2 percentage point increase, the plan on the table says the first $1.05 of any ticket would no longer be exempt from the tax. The current 3 percent tax exempts the first $1.05 of any ticket.
During council's Committee of the Whole meeting Monday, several speakers associated with arts and entertainment urged council not to raise the tax.
Mike Smith, vice president of the Nederlander Organization, which books events in a variety of local venues, said a tax increase could drive events to other cities.
NFL COMMITTEE OK's BENGALS LEASE
