The proposed new Braves stadium met with skepticism from some Cobb business owners and residents Thursday as county officials detailed their plans to finance the project.
Much of the burden for financing the $300 million public share of the project will fall on businesses near the stadium. County business leaders say it makes sense that those that stand to benefit from the stadium pay a share of the costs in the form of higher property taxes.
“We bet people will come from all over the Southeast to Braves games, and when they buy a hamburger, that’s revenue that benefits the property owners paying the tax,” said Tad Leithead, chairman of the Cumberland Community Improvement District, which includes the stadium site.
But some business owners aren’t sure they’ll benefit.
“It doesn’t do me a damn bit of good,” said Stan Chakales, who owns My Friend’s Place deli at the Akers Mill Square shopping center on Cobb Parkway. “If anything, it will hurt.”
Cobb County and the Cumberland CID will pay a combined $24 million up front toward the public share of the $672 million stadium, to be built near I-75 and I-285. The county will borrow the remaining $276 million of the public share and pay $17.9 million a year to cover the debt.
To help pay the debt, Cobb plans to raise property taxes in the community improvement district, a largely commercial area. The 3 mill tax hike will cost about $120 for every $100,000 of a property’s market value.
The county also will impose a new $3-per-night room charge at hotels in the district. Among other things, the county also will impose a new 3 percent car rental tax.
The district property tax hike is expected to generate nearly $5.2 million annually for stadium debt payments. The $3 hotel room charge will generate more than $2.7 million.
Chakales’ deli is in the district, and he’s worried his rent may rise to cover the property tax hike. The deli is open only for lunch six days a week, and he’d have to add hours and staff to take advantage of game-day traffic. But he’s not sure he’s close enough to the new stadium across I-285 to benefit.
Chakales plans to retire before the stadium opens, and is glad he won’t have to live with the uncertainty. “I’ll be at the beach by then,” he said.
Tony Yang, who owns The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. in the same shopping center, also doesn’t know what to expect. He gets catering business from the nearby Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, but isn’t sure how he’d benefit from the Braves stadium.
Dan Styf is a vice president at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and vice president for operations at Piedmont WellStar HealthPlans. He works just a mile from the stadium site and said the benefits will go beyond extra game-day business.
He said the project will bring thousands of workers to the community – some building the stadium and others working at new hotels and other businesses he expects to spring up. Those will be new customers for local businesses, Styf said.
“You don’t have to benefit from a person coming to the baseball game at 7 o’clock on a Tuesday night to feel the benefit,” he said.
Styf said the stadium also will be a recruiting tool for existing businesses. And it will help make Cobb more appealing as a destination for families as well as entertainment, he said.
But business owners aren’t the only ones expressing concerns.
Eliza Warmus of Smyrna worries about the kind of crowds and traffic the stadium will draw and wonders what effect the stadium will have on the value of her home.
“There are a lot of unknowns,” Warmus said.
Lance Lamberton, president of the Cobb Taxpayers Association, called taxing businesses in the community improvement district the “least objectionable” part of the financing plan. But he is not happy about the new car rental tax, which he said would be a burden on local residents. And he generally opposes public support for private businesses like the Braves.
“Whenever they talk about public-private partnerships, I always reach for my wallet,” Lamberton said. “What it is, is public money for private benefit.”
Nonetheless, Lamberton said his group may not make a “big fuss” about the stadium deal.
“It could be a lot worse,” he said, “but I’m not happy with it.”
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