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February 22, 2010
Glendale seeks sales-tax kickback for Coyotes
Apparently special tax districts are all the rage right now: In the midst of the Arizona legislature's debate over a TIF for the Chicago Cubs' spring-training stadium, state rep Jerry Weiers has introduced a bill to kick back a portion of sales taxes in a two-mile radius around sports arenas to local governments, to help pay for arena operations or infrastructure. Given that Weiers hails from Glendale, that's clearly targeted at the Phoenix Coyotes, who as you may recall are having a wee bit of a dustup over where to play and who's going to throw money at them to play there.
This isn't technically a STIF, since it would be current sales tax revenue that would be kicked back to Glendale, not future sales tax increases, but it amounts to much the same thing: a way for the state to pay the team to stay in Arizona without actually just paying them outright. Weiers skipped any claims about economic benefits or what have you in promoting his bill, telling the Arizona Republic, "If we don't figure out a way to keep this team, they're going to Canada." Yeah, as the old joke goes, all over Canada.
UPDATE: Looks like the Weiers bill is dead already — see link in comments.
Already dead, didn't even make it to committee: http://bit.ly/d8lkkn
"Rep. Jerry Weiers, R-Glendale, said Saturday afternoon that his bill to create an incremental sales-tax financing district around Jobing.com Arena would not move forward.
The Weiers bill stalled just one day after being introduced."
Posted by Thomas on February 22, 2010 12:00 PM
Wow, that was fast. In the New York state legislature, one day isn't even enough for them to tie their shoes.
Posted by Neil on February 22, 2010 12:05 PM
Oh, come on! Just move the Phoenix Coyotes to Canada already!
Posted by Albert Buckenberger on February 22, 2010 02:35 PM
Oh, come on! Just move the Phoenix Coyotes to Canada already!
Posted by Albert Buckenberger on February 22, 2010 02:36 PM
Oh, come on! Just move the Phoenix Coyotes to Canada already!
Posted by Albert Buckenberger on February 22, 2010 02:37 PM
How many times do they have to try and float one of these taxpayer bailouts and fail before they admit the obvious?
The people of Glendale, by and large, don't want the Coyotes. This club has now been in the desert almost as long as it was in Winnipeg... it's not that they don't know you are there, boys, it's that they just don't care.
Time to pack. A market of 4M people is of no benefit to the league if less than 10,000 of them have any interest in the sport.
I said this three times, and I'll just say it again. Oh, come on! Just move the Phoenix Coyotes to Canada already! By the way, Gary Bettman should be fired! Everyone knows that he ruins this sport. Gary Bettman is a disease of this sport. It's time to cure that disease by firing Gary Bettman as a commissioner of the National Hockey League.
Posted by Albert Buckenberger on May 11, 2010 05:09 PM