August 24, 2005
Cincinnati Red ink
Another indication of how sports stadiums privatize profits and socialize risk: Hamilton County, Ohio is projecting that the 0.5% sales-tax hike approved in 1996 to pay for stadiums for the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals will begin running short of cash next year, with the total deficit possibly hitting $300 million by the year 2032. ("'Wow' is right," County Commissioner Todd Portune told the Cincinnati Enquirer.) Apparently Hamilton County based its revenue projections on the assumption that sales tax receipts would grow by 3% each year; instead, they've averaged just 1.3% in annual growth.
Bengals director of business development Troy Blackburn, meanwhile, blamed the shortfall on - I swear I am not making this up - the county wasting tax money on schools instead of stadiums. Do they give out master's degrees in chutzpah?
