Work crews are already busy at the sites for the future Atlanta Braves and Falcons stadiums, but opposition to using public money to help build those multi-million dollar arenas shows no sign of stopping.
Activists from across the political spectrum gathered Monday to speak out against the partial taxpayer financing of the stadiums in Atlanta and Cobb County.
The group — comprised of community leaders from downtown Atlanta, Cobb County watchdog organizations, Tea Party members and a Libertarian candidate for Georgia’s governor — pledged to continue their quest to halt the use of tax dollars for the stadiums.
They also announced plans to pursue legislation next year requiring a referendum on certain projects built with public funds.
“What we have is another form of taxation without representation,” said The Rev. Tim McDonald of the Concerned Black Clergy, which represents about 100 congregations throughout Metro Atlanta.
McDonald said the groups joined forces because they felt cut out of the decisions to commit public funds to the projects.
“It’s exhilarating that we’re on the same page, because you’re talking about using our tax dollars to pay for something that we didn’t ask for,” he said.
But whether or not they have any hope of upending the financial commitments Atlanta and Cobb officials have already made is less clear.
Vine City and English Avenue residents behind a legal challenge to the use of hotel-motel taxes for the $1.3 billion Falcons stadium lost their first bid to stop the bond issuance earlier this year, and are now appealing that ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court.
The deal calls for $200 million in hotel-motel taxes to help build the stadium, with hundreds of millions more in hotel-motel taxes funding stadium operations and maintenance over 30 years. The city has yet to issue bonds for the retractable roof stadium, which is set to open in 2017.
In Cobb, the county commission has committed $392 million in public funds toward construction of the Braves stadium, plus another $35 million over the life of the facility for capital maintenance. The team will pay a portion of the annual payment on that debt, through $6.1 million annual rent payments.
A superior court judge last month validated the issuance of up to $397 million in bonds for the project, also scheduled to open in 2017. Opponents have vowed to appeal that ruling.
Ben Williams, of Citizens for Government Transparency, said the groups aren’t opposed to private developers building stadiums, but to the use of public funds for private ventures. He believes citizens should have voted on issue.
“Today we cross county boundaries … because we agree that if the people’s money is to be spent, then let the people have some say as to whether or not it should be spent,” said Williams, who has been critical of Cobb’s decision to help fund the future $622 million Braves stadium. “Right, middle and left we are standing together and we are meeting on common ground all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Representatives with the Falcons, Braves and Cobb County government declined comment Monday.
A spokeswoman for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority said late Monday that the current public contribution to the Falcons project is estimated at 18% of the total cost, and noted that the state will own the stadium and receive annual payments to be reinvested in the GWCC campus.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed spokeswoman Anne Torres said the mayor stands by his assertion that the financing terms of the Falcons deal “are more favorable to the public than any other stadium deal in the last 10 years.”
Reed has long defended the future stadium as critical to the revitalization of the West side neighborhoods. The city recently purchased Morris Brown College in a joint venture with Friendship Baptist Church — one of two historic black churches that sold to make way for the new stadium — to have control over development across from the Falcons site.
But some residents, such as the Rev. William Cottrell — an intervenor in the Falcons bond challenge — criticize the project as doing little to benefit the surrounding communities of English Avenue, Vine City and Castleberry Hill.
Under the deal, the city is spending $15 million in funds from the Westside tax allocation district and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has committed $15 million. Reed recently announced plans to form a nonprofit with the business community to spearhead projects in that area.
Gary Pelphrey, an opponent of the Braves deal, said the stadium projects have had a chilling effect on how he views elected officials. “We have lost our confidence in government.”
About the Author
