BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WHAT'S NEXT
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Commissioners will discuss financial projections with consultants in the coming days. Commissioners had a meeting scheduled for this afternoon with consultant Mitchell Zeits, but Mr. Zeits had to postpone it. It was unclear whether commissioners would meet anyway to vote on a preliminary riverfront stadium deal with the Reds announced last week.
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Building a new Bengals stadium, a new Reds ballpark and parking garages on the riverfront could cost Hamilton County more than $1 billion over 20 years, according to financial projections to be discussed soon with county commissioners.
But the county expects to have enough money to cover the bills. A half-cent sales tax increase approved in 1996 to build the new sports facilities will be sufficient as long as revenues grow by at least 2 percent each year, according to projections obtained by The Cincinnati Enquirer through the state's public records act.
The 2 percent rate is lower than the county's historical 5 percent annual sales tax growth.
If the revenue grows by 5 percent each year, the county could pay its annual debts and have an extra $339 million in sales tax collections left over by 2017, commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said.
"We wanted to make sure we stayed with a very conservative approach to this," said Mr. Bedinghaus, who pushed for the sales tax increase in 1996.
The billion-dollar total includes more than $400 million for the football complex, $108 million for parking, $100 million over 20 years to Cincinnati Public Schools, $1 million a year for property taxes on the land where the stadiums will sit and financing costs for both stadiums, Mr. Bedinghaus said.
Close projections on the new baseball stadium's total cost were unavailable Wednesday.
The county and Reds have tentatively agreed to build a $235 million ballpark. But that price will grow with inflation and does not include any land or demolition costs, which could raise the projected price closer to $300 million.
County Commissioner John Dowlin, who prefers the rival Broadway Commons ballpark site at Broadway and Reading Road, said he has many questions about the county's financing plans.
But he expects Mr. Bedinghaus and Commission President Tom Neyer Jr. to approve the Reds deal no matter what the financial consultants say.
"I think the answer's going to be, "Go away. Faith is a great thing. Everything will work out.' And it will pass 2-to-1," he said.
Mr. Dowlin questions whether the county's financial models have included enough "wiggle room" in case costs are higher than expected for a ballpark on the riverfront site next to the Crown, known as Baseball on Main or the "Wedge."
He also worries that the city of Cincinnati, which owns land needed to build a ballpark on the riverfront, could "blackmail" the county and try to get additional county funds for city projects, such as its massive overhaul of Fort Washington Way.
Mr. Bedinghaus hinted at similar concerns, saying the $108 million budgeted for parking is "not meant to be everyone's cash cow."
County officials accused city officials of extorting a $10 million contribution for the Fort Washington Way project and other commitments earlier this year in exchange for about 12 acres of city-controlled land the county needed to build Paul Brown Stadium.
