Two Hamilton County commissioners want the prosecutor's office to examine a provision in the Paul Brown Stadium lease with the Bengals that will cost taxpayers more than $29 million.

        Commissioner Todd Portune says the provision, which has taxpayers picking up the tab for operating expenses while the team pays no rent, is illegal.

        That led Commissioner John Dowlin to ask for a legal review.

        Mr. Dowlin also expressed interest in trying to get the Bengals to renegotiate other aspects of the lease.

        It is the first time since the lease was signed in 1997 that a majority of the three- member commission has been in favor of renegotiating the lease.

        But that doesn't mean it will happen.

        County Prosecutor Mike Allen thinks the county paying operating expenses at the stadium is legal. In fact, his office has been arguing against a similar claim made by Cincinnati attorney Tim Mara, who filed suit against the county over that very issue last year.

        County attorneys made their case last month before the 1st District Court of Appeals, which hasn't ruled on the matter.

        Still, Mr. Allen said his office will give the issue a look-see.

        “It is our position that the lease is constitutional,” Mr. Allen said. “Whether it's prudent from a taxpayer's perspective is another story.

        “But it's a validly executed lease. The county signed on the dotted line, and that stands for something. Right

        or wrong, the county is bound by it.”

        The Bengals' lease has the team paying $11.7 million in rent to the county during the first nine years of the deal — $1.7 million last year, with the payments decreasing by $100,000 annually until 2008. Starting in 2009, the team pays no rent for nine years.

        Then, for the last nine years of the lease, the Bengals will play in the stadium rent-free, while taxpayers reimburse the team for game-day expenses — an amount capped at $29.4 million.

        County Administrator Dave Krings said his staff will talk to the prosecutor's office today about the lease provision.

        Bengals officials did not return phone calls Monday night. But in an interview in August 2000, Bengals' director of business development Troy Blackburn explained why the provision was placed in the lease.

        “We were looking to avoid having to pay for year-round operations costs,” Mr. Blackburn said. “If we were having to pay that, it ... was the same as reducing the amount of revenue we were going to get.”

        Mr. Mara said his lawsuit is based on the notion that a governmental body must charge enough rent to cover operations at the facility.

        “Obviously, if (the Bengals) aren't paying rent, that's not happening,” Mr. Mara said.

        Mr. Portune became the first Democratic commissioner in Hamilton County in more than 30 years by campaigning on overruns at the stadium and the lease.

        He has said all along that the lease needs to be renegotiated if the county wants to build other riverfront projects, such as parking garages that will support The Banks.

        “This is worth fighting for,” Mr. Portune said.

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