Hey Planored or Big Boxes

[kaz36]

What are your thoughts on the new stadium proposal that the city of Arlington is putting in front of voters? From some things I've seen on the internet(gotta be true if it's on the Internet), this would be a sweetheart deal for the Rangers and could be a bad deal for the residents of Arlington. Sounded like there are some things built into the proposal that would allow the Rangers to keep the money from things like parking, stadium naming rights, etc. The costs I have seen have the stadium exceeding $1 billion and the city could end up being on the hook for almost $1.5B.
@planored @bigboxes

 

[bigboxes]

What are your thoughts on the new stadium proposal that the city of Arlington is putting in front of voters? From some things I've seen on the internet(gotta be true if it's on the Internet), this would be a sweetheart deal for the Rangers and could be a bad deal for the residents of Arlington. Sounded like there are some things built into the proposal that would allow the Rangers to keep the money from things like parking, stadium naming rights, etc. The costs I have seen have the stadium exceeding $1 billion and the city could end up being on the hook for almost $1.5B.
@planored @bigboxes

I live in Arlington. I am against this. I was torn on public financing on the current one. I love going to the game. But this is a bad deal for Arlington. The current mayor and city council pushed this through without much debate. The real costs are buried and are denied by city officials. I believe that news reports put the cost to taxpayers at over a billion dollars. Not the 50/50 split that the Yes campaign promises.The current stadium is only 22 years old. If you've ever been to a game or seen my pics that I posted on here you know it's a state of the art beautiful stadium. I get that it's miserable to go to a game in August. That hasn't changed since the Rangers moved here in 1972.

However, the Rangers aren't going anywhere. They've got 8 years left on their lease. The claim is that they won't have to raise taxes. Yes they will. It was financed by a dedicated increase in our sales tax. It was supposed to end when they paid off the current stadiums (Ranger's and Jerry World). Their plan is to keep the dedicated sales tax in place. I pay for this tax daily. We are not a small town where we have mostly visitors pay for this stadium. Arlington has a population of 400k. With 8 years until the lease is up, surely we have plenty of time to work out a better deal for the taxpayers. For a state that is so anti-tax and anti-welfare the politicians seem to have no problem raising taxes to give welfare to rich owners.

 

[kaz36]

Thanks Boxes. I have been to the stadium about 7 or 8 years ago and loved it. It is a beautiful stadium and I was shocked that they were talking about building a new one. We took the stadium tour and loved it. I get so sick of these arms races when it comes stadiums and arenas. Like you said, the stadium is only 22 years old and there is nothing wrong with it other than maybe some updated within the stadium. I'm sure that they want a new stadium because the Death Star lies about a mile away.

 

[tpmcg]

keeping up with the joneses!

taxes must not be too bad, it seems Dallas area is exploding and has been for years.

 

[jteten]

Thats dumb. I love the ballpark in Arlington.