Mortgage owners weren't the only ones sold the plateau of prosperity in recent years. The stadium boom was also structured on unrealistic expectations. Structured expectations that once smashed by economic reality served only to increase the taxpayer burden and punch holes in local and state budgets. Another example of the "Formula" at work.
In 1996, voters in Hamilton County approved an increase of half of one percent in the sales tax that promised to build and maintain stadiums for the Bengals and the Reds, pay Cincinnati’s public schools and give homeowners an annual property tax rebate. The stadiums were supposed to spur development of the city’s dilapidated riverfront.
But sales tax receipts have fallen so fast in the last year that the county is now scrambling to bridge a $14 million deficit in its sales tax fund. The public schools, which deferred taking their share for years, want their money.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/sports/25stadium.html
Source: http://jsmineset.com/
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