The estimate by David Taylor is deliberately lowballed exclusing parking and utility infrastructure, a 10% budget contingency usually required for projects of this size, 5% site prep (if you saw the Railyards site, you'd know what I mean), and a rational amount for FFE's, among many many other issues... all on the last page of the proposal, and all costing an additional $400 million or so...

And the 'economic engine' report claims $7 billion of 'new' income is really just a redistribution of old income from the current Natomas site for ARCO, to the downtown area of Sacramento's Railyards -- there is no 'new income' whatsoever...

The process has also been so secretive that there has been virtually no public input whatsoever -- possibly involving Brown Act open meeting requirements...

The kicker is that there has never been a needs analysis of strategic plan showing that an arena is needed at all, let alone that it should be sited in the Railyards... NONE...

This whole episode started from the Maloof's footstomping demands for a new arena, which Sacramento turned down by 80% five years ago...

...which is why KJ and his tribe of thugs is trying to engineer this outcome without a vote, because they KNOW people do NOT WANT THIS ARENA!

Thank you for all you do in exposing this fraud, in Sacramento, and elsewhere....

While Sacratomato might "need" a new arena, so far nobody has been willing to pay for it...

The Magoofs are broke

Sacramento is a government town with absolutely no business other than those relying on the government dole so the "big spenders/developers" are hollow men/women only looking for a government handout...and not the type to spring for an arena if they even have the change to do so, which is unlikely...

Paul Allen's Rose Garden or Phil Knight at the UofO type don't exist and never will in Sacramento and the only person with that kind of cash in the neighborhood, Spanos, seems to be tied up with UOP and San Diego...

So the entire deal is a continuous round of hype, BS and turns over as a continuous disingenuous circle jerk

Well you can't blame the "band of thugs" for trying everything. They know if they don't get this done by March it's bye bye Kings. Unlike most situations where the threat of moving is mostly an idle threat, this time it's not. The Kings were nearly out the door this past spring and will be out the door next spring to Anaheim unless Sac gets this done. And while the arena was turned down a few years ago via a vote, the situation is not the same today. The team wasn't threatening to leave 3 years ago. They were ready to leave 5 months ago and will be gone in 7 months unless a new arena is in the works. It would be interesting to see how a vote comes out today with that fact in mind and the second fact that without an arena Sac is going to lose many of the non-sporting events such an arena hosts as well.

Wait, are they really talking about demolishing Arco Arena if the Kings leave? KeyArena in Seattle is still going strong without the Sonics, and it was (re)built only a few years later than Arco.

tear down ARCO? NO...that's just BS from the local yokels who through some weird thought process think having a basketball team makes one "world class"...

Vote would be same today as before...and that's the reason the Mayor has said the vote will be "off the table"...

folks are getting sick of the old government scamaroos and supporting sicko developers with real inept redevelopment projects...

and that's all there is in Sacratomato...a bunch of government bureaucrats thinking up ways to keep their jobs by these scam projects...

the public OWNS ARCO Arena...the Kings are only there with a lease...

Lady Gaga just recently brought her song and dance routine to ARCO and the local yokels now proclaim that without a new arena the really "big" acts will not come to Sacratomato

These same local chumps also have lied through their teeth that ARCO is not good enough for the NCAA tournament...something the NCAA denies but there is never a retraction from the local chumps...

Sacramento Chumps are all very weary...and BORING...

bbbbmer:

You may have merit to some of your positions, but your argument comes off as disingenuous when you are not correct with your facts.

There have been numerous public meetings and information has been shared at a higher level than most projects in the past.

In regards to the substitution effect, you have no evidence (nor is there any published evidence) that there is no new income whatsoever.

And if you recall, it wasn't the Maloofs foot-stomping for a new arena, it was another city rolling out the red carpet for them with cash that gave them another option. You can argue that they have a civic responsibility to stay, but you wouldn't want somebody telling you where and how you have to run your business now would you?

If you can't keep your argument real, you make it more difficult for your like-minded individuals to make their case later down the road.

Good day.

They won't demolish PBP for one simple reason; the city owns it. What would motivate them to demolish it?

These reports are pretty weak so far, too. The Council is skeptical, and will have a lot of hard questions after Sept 8. Someone pass me some popcorn please...

The ticket surcharge isn't really a tax on the Maloofs. This gets done all over the place. As I type this, I'm looking at receipts from visits to Oracle Arena and Conseco Fieldhouse and I see the extra fee for those buildings as well.

It goes like this. The Maloofs figure out how much they want to charge for tickets based on revenue targets. The surcharge gets added on after that so the buyer winds up paying $48 for a ticket instead of $45. The Maloofs and the people trying to figure out how to fund the arena assume that the extra $3 won't deter people from purchasing the ticket.

Assuming a new Sactown arena gets 200 events a year at an average of 15,000 people per event then a $3 surcharge gets you $45,000 a night and $9 million a year. Over the course of a 20 year lease, that's $180 million and you have almost half of the arena paid off right there.

Throw in the Maloofs paying $3 million a year in rent and you have another $60 million over a 20 year lease. The total is now $240 million.

Throw in naming rights, city selling parcels of land to pay for the arena, parking fees, developers pitching in for the project and a building manager like AEG paying an up front amount knowing that they will make up the money over a 20 year period and you get really close to where you need to be even after figuring bond interest.

"It goes like this. The Maloofs figure out how much they want to charge for tickets based on revenue targets. The surcharge gets added on after that so the buyer winds up paying $48 for a ticket instead of $45."

Um, no, it doesn't go like that. The only way it could go like that would either be if:

1) Fans who would normally be willing to pay $45 would suddenly pay $48 because the extra $3 is a "surcharge."

or

2) The Maloofs are normally only charging $45 for tickets that fans would be willing to pay $48, because ... they're stupid? Out of the goodness of their hearts?

Sports teams set ticket prices to maximize revenues, not to hit a "revenue target." It's possible they're dumb about it sometimes, but that doesn't take away from the fact that $3 going into an arena fund is $3 less that the team owners can raise prices by and put into their own pocket.

To that person who believes that a new arena would sell 15,000 seats 200 times a year.

Whatever you're smoking, I want some.

If the people supported the Kings in Sacramento and went to all the game whether they played well or not, then I doubt if there would be a problem. The city should just renovate Arco by selling off their buildings and land if that's an issue. The biggest issue is crime and the city is broke and they do nothing to solve the problems for all the residents and want to concentrate on the few people who actually go to see the Kings. I really doubt that Arco events are that much of a draw to people outside Sacramento. Let the Kings leave, fix the city, lower the crime rate, clean it up, and then concentrate on getting a new arena or whatever in a few years and get a great team in that people can actually afford to go see and not be afraid to go to. I live in KY right now, but am from southern CA and still pay taxes in CA. I don't want to pay taxes or whatever they might call the bonds to fix up and fund something that should be private in the first place and I will never get any use or anything out of. My tax dollars should go to the right places, police, fire, etc.

Another taxpayer rip off. After years of being voted down, the thugs, criminals and con-men have finally whittled down a weary opposition. Instead of those who actually USE the arena paying for it, the unwilling and unsuspecting tax payer gets to squeeze out his last dime. Forget about rotting infrastructure, homeless, needy families and the mortgage crisis. By all means, lets put sports and entertainment first!!