Strong tourism and property tax payments from The Battery at Truist Park are doing more to offset Cobb County’s debt payment for the public contribution toward the Atlanta Braves stadium, according to a presentation by a Braves executive and the county’s finance chief to commissioners on Tuesday.
The presentation, made by Braves Development Company CEO Mike Plant and county Chief Financial Officer Bill Volckmann, centered on the amount of taxes paid to the county by the Braves mixed use development known as The Battery.
In 2023, those taxes amounted to $2.6 million, which fully offset the county’s $1.75 million general fund contribution to the debt service, according to county data. And the general fund contribution is significantly lower than the $6.4 million originally projected in 2015, due to increases in property values and the tourism rebound increasing hotel and motel tax revenues.
In all, Cobb County government contributes $16.4 million a year toward the debt on the $300 million stadium bonds, through general tax revenue, a special property tax on Cumberland-area businesses, along with taxes and fees predominantly paid by visitors for car rentals and hotel stays. The Atlanta Braves pay the county $6.1 million a year to rent Truist Park, for a total yearly debt payment of $22.5 million.
Property taxes from the Battery and Truist Park offset the county’s general fund contribution to the debt payment for the first time in 2022, officials have said. In 2023, the property taxes paid by the Battery also covered the $500,000 cost of the Circulator, the CobbLinc bus that offers free service in the Cumberland area throughout the week, Volckmann said.
”We can say, without a doubt, no general fund homeowner paid into that service for this investment,” Volckmann said. “This continues to improve as we’ve gone through these years, and the county has done a great job as far as reducing the general fund impact.”
The Battery property taxes do not, however, cover all of the other costs bore by Cobb residents and businesses, said Kennesaw State University Economist J.C. Bradbury.
Bradbury has conducted multiple economic analyses on sports stadiums, including Truist Park, and routinely reviews the presentations to Cobb commissioners. He said taxpayers pay more than just the general fund contribution — including $7.6 million per year from businesses through an additional property tax in the Cumberland Community Improvement District.
Additional debt service revenue streams include: $3.8 million from a hotel/motel tax; $2.3 million from a hotel room fee; and $800,000 from a rental car fee. Hotel and motel taxes, which dropped to $419,000 during the pandemic, have now surpassed 2019 levels.
The county also pays for police inside The Battery and traffic control on game days. Taxpayers also fund operational and maintenance costs, which amounted to $1.3 million last year.
“You don’t consider all the other (money) that Cobb taxpayers are paying when they rent cars, stay in hotels, buy things or own property within the Cumberland district,” Bradbury said.
Plant, who is also the chair of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, said the Braves use analytics to track from where all visitors to the Battery and Truist Park come. He said 80% of the record 10 million visitors in 2023 were from outside Cobb County.
“I appreciate all the support from the board,” Plant told commissioners. “There are more good things to come, and hopefully, we’ll be planning a (World Series victory) parade with you this November.”
