A stadium funding bill for the Milwaukee Brewers may not be a home run without significant changes.
GOP lawmakers have discarded a plan Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) offered a few months ago, which was to use $290 million of the state budget surplus to set up a fund for major maintenance projects at American Family Field.
The Brewers and Gov. Evers say the new pot of money is needed because the five county sales tax that funded stadium repairs for about 20 years has expired, and there isn't enough money left in that fund to pay for potential major projects. In fact, it was announced Monday that the Stadium District Board has only about $10 million left, instead of earlier reports of $70 million.
Republicans, as usual see things differently from Evers, and are recommending steering some of the state tax money raised from major league baseball player salaries toward the stadium financing package.
Rep. Robert Brooks of (R-Saukville) is a key architect of the plan. He says the players — typically paid hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars per year — currently pay Wisconsin's top individual income tax rate of 7.65% and would continue to do so.
"Current rate. No additional taxes. Just the current rate. So we'll just take that, and reallocate it strictly to the ballpark or a portion thereof," Brooks says.
A few months ago, Republican lawmakers tried to reduce that top rate, a move Evers vetoed.
Players on opposing teams also pay taxes when they play in Milwaukee. So Brooks boasted during a Monday news conference:
"If you don't play second base for the Brewers or the Cubs or the Yankees, your income taxes are not going to this deal," he said.
But the Republicans do want people who pay sales taxes in the city and county of Milwaukee to contribute financially — maybe as much as $200 million or roughly seven million dollars a year during the almost 30-year agreement that would keep the Brewers in Milwaukee until at least 2050.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Racine County) says a bigger Milwaukee share is justified.
"The most direct economic benefit for keeping the team here accrues to the city and county of Milwaukee. If the team leaves, they have the most to lose. Everybody would like somebody else to pay for everything. But that is not the reality of the economy that we live in," Vos says.
Vos also says the proposal calls for winterizing American Family Field, leading to more year-round revenue from concerts and other events.
But Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson says he's troubled by the amount of the potential local commitment — especially since the GOP would change the makeup of the Stadium Board and potentially take away Milwaukee's seat.
"We're being asked to make a contribution, and as all of us know, city residents are also county residents in Milwaukee, and so we'd be paying twice. And then our representation is moved. So that's taxation without representation," Johnson says.
Johnson's not alone with his concern. State Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) and Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D-Madison) say the Republican plan places a lot of burden on the city and county of Milwaukee. The GOP may need some Democratic votes, if fiscally conservative Republicans don't want state tax revenue allocated to help Brewers baseball.
And Gov. Evers, who could veto a stadium funding bill, isn't saying much, other than he'll review the GOP proposal and try to minimize harm to local partners.
The GOP says as expected the Brewers will boost their financial commitment to the stadium fund to 100 million dollars.
The state would continue to own the ballpark.
