Kudos to our Mayor (Atlanta, Decatur: how much, restaurants, cost)

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Why not use revenue bonds? That's the way it'll likely be handled in Cobb

Because they are still payed by taxes. In this case hotel/motel taxes which is already paying for the New Falcons Stadium and GWCC.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Sounds like the Braves have not been serious about negotiations to stay at Turner Field for months.

Looks like the COA is really concerned about covering their backsides and not receiving any blame for this. Seems like a pretty detailed response.


About the revenue bonds. I'm not familiar with financing, so I may be completely wrong here.

But if the Braves wanted complete or at least significant control of the land and the development of it, how would the city pay back revenue bonds outside of using general funds?

[Newsboy]

This thing is looking more and more like a ploy by the Braves just to play the city's hand ... opposition in Cobb County is strong ... the lease on the Ted has three more years to go, with is PLENTY of time to work out a compromise and / or plan to redevelop the Turner Field site ... wouldn't be surprised if private businessmen step in to try and broker their own deal to keep the team in the city ...

WHERE IS TED TURNER?!

[avbanks]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Why not use revenue bonds? That's the way it'll likely be handled in Cobb:

[i]f most or all of Cobb’s share of the deal is to be paid for via the hotel/motel tax or via a revenue bond issue by the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority, Lee likely will find the going easier. Revenue bonds could be paid off with funds generated by the stadium complex, although county taxpayers could still be responsible for making up the difference if stadium or other revenues fall short. It’s the same funding mechanism the Authority used to pay for construction of the $47 million Cobb Galleria Centre convention hall nearly two decades ago.

Your daily jolt: A post-Braves plan so secret that John Eaves... | Political Insider | www.ajc.com

The Cobb County hotel tax only brought in 10mil last year. I'm not sure what % rate the tax currently is but the max allowed is 8% if I'm not wrong. They'll most likely attempt to fund it by raising business taxes.

With that said, no matter how you fund the deal it's just horrible for the city nothing is gained from that. The Braves looked at this deal from a business stand point it seems like a lot of people are viewing it from an emotional perspective.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

About the revenue bonds. I'm not familiar with financing, so I may be completely wrong here.

Typically the borrower (i.e., the Braves) pays them back out of its revenue stream, over 20, 40 or even 50 years. It's a way to get really low cost capital financing.

And of course that's the way it should be. It would be absurd for any city to simply give a gift of several hundred million dollars in taxpayer money to a private business.

[Cameron H]

Originally Posted by avbanks

The Braves looked at this deal from a business stand point it seems like a lot of people are viewing it from an emotional perspective.

Who is looking at it from an emotional perspective? CoA is a little emotional, obviously, but they're not the ones making the deal. Cobb County? This isn't a situation where the local government is threatened with losing an existing franchise to another city. The area is conservative politically and the easier path for elected officials would be to say "no deal." Public opinion in Cobb County is likely to be mixed, at best. Given that we don't actually know anything about the terms of "this deal," why assume someone's making an emotional decision?

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by Cameron H

Who is looking at it from an emotional perspective? CoA is a little emotional, obviously, but they're not the ones making the deal. Cobb County? This isn't a situation where the local government is threatened with losing an existing franchise to another city. The area is conservative politically and the easier path for elected officials would be to say "no deal." Public opinion in Cobb County is likely to be mixed, at best. Given that we don't actually know anything about the terms of "this deal," why assume someone's making an emotional decision?

Yea, glad I am not a Cobb Co resident.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Typically the borrower (i.e., the Braves) pays them back out of its revenue stream, over 20, 40 or even 50 years. It's a way to get really low cost capital financing.

And of course that's the way it should be. It would be absurd for any city to simply give a gift of several hundred million dollars in taxpayer money to a private business.

100% with you there.

If the Braves were requesting the revenue bonds to be paid back by the Braves, or by a solid source like parking (if that is enough to cover it), then I don't have much of a problem with that. My guess is that they just wanted the money from the city and they wanted to capture all the revenue from the surrounding land and whatever was developed on it. Otherwise, why wouldn't the city play ball (pun intended).

[avbanks]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

100% with you there.

Also, seeing some numbers in the Billions concerning Liberty Media, the owners of the Braves, why would they need such bonds? 200 Mil is a drop in the bucket to a company like that, especially for such a large investment like the Braves. They shouldn't need the bonds, so I think it would be safe to assume that the revenue to pay back the request bonds would be coming somewhere from the COA, not the Braves.

Aren't the current revenue bonds covered by parking fees collected by the recreational authority?

The parking fees are collected by some entity in the COA government but I'm unsure which org. The Braves want all revenue associated with the ballpark even the parking fees.

[avbanks]

Originally Posted by Cameron H

Who is looking at it from an emotional perspective? CoA is a little emotional, obviously, but they're not the ones making the deal. Cobb County? This isn't a situation where the local government is threatened with losing an existing franchise to another city. The area is conservative politically and the easier path for elected officials would be to say "no deal." Public opinion in Cobb County is likely to be mixed, at best. Given that we don't actually know anything about the terms of "this deal," why assume someone's making an emotional decision?

I'm talking about the COA residents bud........