凍結 天然氣 火車

Ain't it great that the city of Glendale wants to steal your money and give it to a multimillion dollar profession sports team. With out your tax dollars supporting them the teams owners might have to sell their Rolls Royces and down size to a crummy Mercedes Benz!!! Sure your kids may have to go hungry a couple of night every week, but the members of the Glendale city council will tell you that every penny they stole from you to give to the Coyotes was worth it.

Source

Glendale edges toward Phoenix Coyotes deal

by Lisa Halverstadt - Apr. 28, 2012 09:00 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

As the Phoenix Coyotes shed past struggles and skated into the second round of the playoffs, a first since the team moved to Arizona, a Glendale City Council majority informally agreed to its own new reality.

Glendale's chief negotiator told the council last week that any deal with a new Coyotes owner will require millions of taxpayer dollars each year. Keeping the team in Glendale means shouldering the cost of managing Jobing.com Arena, where the team plays, City Manager Ed Beasley said.

This comes at a time when the city has seen its reserves depleted and faces a $35 million shortfall in next year's operating budget.

As fans celebrated the Coyotes' most successful season in Arizona, four of seven Glendale council members directed staff to move forward with a deal that could include the city paying a future Coyotes owner $17 million next year to manage the city-owned arena.

Any negotiated deal would have to return to the council for a formal vote. Beasley previously said he expected such a deal by the end of the month.

The team's on-ice success and former San Jose Sharks President Greg Jamison's bid to buy the team have buoyed hopes that a deal to keep the team will finally get done.

City staff say Jamison's reported 20-year deal would be crucial for Glendale, which counts on hockey visitors to generate sales-tax revenue that helps pay its arena debt.

It's not the deal the city originally envisioned.

The initial deal had Glendale borrowing $180 million to open the arena near Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue in 2003.

Former Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes paid to run the team and the city-owned arena. Several years in, Moyes told Glendale it wasn't working. He asked city officials for at least $12.5 million in annual assistance, according to court filings, but Glendale never agreed. Beasley repeatedly said concessions were not up for negotiation.

Moyes' eventual response was to file the team into bankruptcy in May 2009.

Glendale and the National Hockey League have sought a new owner ever since.

When the NHL bought the team at the bankruptcy auction in late 2009, it asked Glendale for $25 million to help pay the costs of running the team and arena.

That's now the established fee potential buyers believe it will take to operate the team, Beasley told the council at Monday's budget workshop.

The arena management fee is now "the price of the team" for Glendale, Beasley said.

Beasley has said Jamison has agreed on a $17 million arena management fee for next year.

City budget proposals show the city would expect to pay Jamison $20 million annually until the 2017 fiscal year, when the bill would drop to $15 million.

Mayor Elaine Scruggs said that's a cost she now sees as a subsidy to cover team losses.

"We signed up for a totally different arrangement," Scruggs said.

Councilwoman Joyce Clark disagreed.

"It is obvious that the only model that will work is some sort of management fee paid by the city," Clark said.

Clark and council members Yvonne Knaack, Steve Frate and Manny Martinez agreed it was the best option for Glendale. The city will be forced to pay its debt whether the team stays or goes.

Without the team, a Glendale-commissioned analysis estimates the city could lose millions if the team leaves and the city is stuck paying off $262 million in arena debt, including principal and interest.

At a council workshop last week, Deputy City Manager Jim Colson said a city-commissioned analysis by TL Hocking & Associates projected Glendale could expect to bring in an average of $15.7 million annually over a 20-year lease with Jamison and $6.5 million without the Coyotes.

Hocking's projections have been far more dire in the past.

A 2009 study the consultant completed for Glendale assumed all city sales-tax hauls at Westgate and fees from the arena would halt if the team left, adding up to a $500 million loss for Glendale over 30 years.