Glendale to spend 100 million tax dollars on Coyote hockey (Mesa: transplants, lease)

[mr ricky]

It has been reported that the City Of Glendale will agree to pay $100,000,000.000 in tax money over the next 5 years to keep the Coyotes hockey team in Glendale. This past April the city was laying people off to balance the city's $14.7 million budget shortfall and now they plan to give $20 million a year to the Coyotes? Not only that but Coyote hockey fan groups from outside of Glendale are encouraging the city of Glendale to do so.

This disgusts me and I encourage everyone who shares my disgust and frustration to be present at the city council meeting to demand that our tax money not be further wasted on Coyote's hockey.

The city council meeting is on Tuesday December 14th at 7:30pm.... you MUST be present as the council will be voting on weather or not they will agree to spend millions of dollars worth of our tax money on Coyote hockey.

Tuesday December 14th at 7:30pm

[RedJacket]

That's a lot of organ transplants.

[mr ricky]

Originally Posted by think first

That's a lot of organ transplants.

Yes, that is a lot of many many many things that our money NEEDS to be spent on.

The sad part is that unless you are an avid hockey fan, you are probably not aware of the situation. Which means this upcoming meeting is set to be made up of hockey fans from Scottsdale and Mesa who don't actually care where our money goes.

Please come out and represent Glendale.

[Ritchie_az]

Originally Posted by mr ricky

...I encourage everyone... to be present at the city council meeting to demand that our tax money not be further wasted on Coyote's hockey.

The city council meeting is on Tuesday December 14th at 7:30pm.... you MUST be present as the council will be voting on weather or not they will agree to spend millions of dollars worth of our tax money on Coyote hockey.

Tuesday December 14th at 7:30pm

Good advice. It's important to be involved in our local governments.

[Bondurant]

I love hockey and love knowing there is a place where I can see my Redwings in action or just get my fix on. However, tax payers should not be paying for an athletics franchise when times are tough. Especially one that isn't well supported.

[Finger Laker]

Or you could wait to actually hear all the details and try to be intelligent

In this process also realize that the city will be paying for the debt on that stadium regardless of whether or not there is an anchor there

Right now the coyotes are in charge for all facility management as well .... without them that cost will go back to the city.

Not to mention lost tax revenue and fees 90x a year from the games.

Also consider how losing that anchor will affect the rest of westgate, the values of those commercial properties and their tax receipts

Finally, look at all the undeveloped land surrounding the stadium area ..... a thriving westgate is the draw there and without it you are going to severely limit what you can get for that land - taxes, development fees, etc.

The question isn't one of winning or losing ..... it's a question of which way do you lose less .... in almost every scenario it's doing what it takes to keep the coyotes in town

of course, in a soundbyte world and given the political climate they just couldn't of done the right thing a year ago and it's questionable if they'll do the right thing this time

I don't think people fully understand the costs associated with them not having the team

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

Or you could wait to actually hear all the details and try to be intelligent

In this process also realize that the city will be paying for the debt on that stadium regardless of whether or not there is an anchor there

Right now the coyotes are in charge for all facility management as well .... without them that cost will go back to the city.

Not to mention lost tax revenue and fees 90x a year from the games.

Also consider how losing that anchor will affect the rest of westgate, the values of those commercial properties and their tax receipts

Finally, look at all the undeveloped land surrounding the stadium area ..... a thriving westgate is the draw there and without it you are going to severely limit what you can get for that land - taxes, development fees, etc.

The question isn't one of winning or losing ..... it's a question of which way do you lose less .... in almost every scenario it's doing what it takes to keep the coyotes in town

of course, in a soundbyte world and given the political climate they just couldn't of done the right thing a year ago and it's questionable if they'll do the right thing this time

I don't think people fully understand the costs associated with them not having the team

You make good points. Glendale may be wise to protect their investment. On the other hand, their ill-advised opposition to the casino plans is hurting Westgate. I think that before they ask the taxpayers to fund the stadium, they should drop their objections to a project that is not asking for the taxpayers money and offers more promise to the area than years of Coyote games will.

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

Or you could wait to actually hear all the details and try to be intelligent

In this process also realize that the city will be paying for the debt on that stadium regardless of whether or not there is an anchor there

Right now the coyotes are in charge for all facility management as well .... without them that cost will go back to the city.

Not to mention lost tax revenue and fees 90x a year from the games.

Also consider how losing that anchor will affect the rest of westgate, the values of those commercial properties and their tax receipts

Finally, look at all the undeveloped land surrounding the stadium area ..... a thriving westgate is the draw there and without it you are going to severely limit what you can get for that land - taxes, development fees, etc.

The question isn't one of winning or losing ..... it's a question of which way do you lose less .... in almost every scenario it's doing what it takes to keep the coyotes in town

of course, in a soundbyte world and given the political climate they just couldn't of done the right thing a year ago and it's questionable if they'll do the right thing this time

I don't think people fully understand the costs associated with them not having the team

This is happening to home owners as well, it's a recession, should they put their money toward saving the neighborhood or feeding and educating their kids? It's a hard call for everyone right now, but, priorities are priorities and during a time like this they are going to have to make some hard choices.
It's a good call to post this, and for the people of Glendale to be involved.

[Finger Laker]

Ponderosa - not saying I agree with Glendales position on the casino, but their opposition is that it will take away patrons from their developments and create an environment that is negative and would devalue the land they own around the proposed site, limiting their ability to develop it with the maximum amount of impact (and fees)

twiggy - again, I don't disagree .... there are tough choices to be made, but I don't think it's a matter of saving the neighborhood or feeding/educating kids

Glendale has an outgoing expense that is going to be there regardless of if the coyotes play in the city or not ..... regardless of what events happen at the stadium, it's built, there is debt to finance and bills to pay

Nothing they do right now will change that obligation

With the coyotes they at least have a chance to recoup some of that money directly from the tennant - some of the concessions that people are talking about are easing the lease agreements .... this would reduce the amount of money they get from the tennant (which is where a lot of the $$ figures are coming from)

However, if I have to pay back $100 a month and have someone who is currently paying me $80 of that amount - negotiating that down to $40 is still more than the $0 if they just moved and quit paying

Not to mention the extra expense that would arise by taking over the management of the stadium

So in todays dollars it's a very real possibility that they would need to allocate more other revenues to service the stadium by not having the coyotes at all ......... so by losing the team it could take away money for education, safety, etc as they would be receiving less income in to service an existing obligation so they would need to pull that money from other sources

There is also talk of setting up a special taxing district around westgate that wouldn't directly impact most city residents

It's hard to judge before more information on how they get there is released and determined

I know a big portion is going to be the structure of the lease agreement

[EnicAZ]

I really don't like this plan either. West Valley cities are already deep in the hole as it is, and the Coyotes continue to take and take from the people paying the taxes. I can only see this continue to push up property taxes to pay for a team which is unpopular here.