A’s, Clark County trying to bridge $75M Las Vegas ballpark tax funding gap
The Oakland Athletics are negotiating with Clark County to bridge a $75 million gap in public financing for a proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas ballpark.
As the A’s and lawmakers try to finalize draft language for a bill that would dedicate tax funding for stadium construction, state and county officials have committed to $320 million of the Major League Baseball team’s $395 million request, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The outstanding funds would come from the county. The two sides are trying to work out their differences, the source said.
Because of the ongoing negotiations, the A’s stadium funding bill is now tracking to be introduced in Carson City next week, the source indicated.
Representatives for the A’s could not be reached for comment.
Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom said via text that he didn’t have any information on the negotiations with the A’s, but said the source’s information on the funding gap potentially holding up legislation “sounds right.”
Commissioners Michael Naft and Commission Chairman Jim Gibson didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The team has proposed building a 30,000-seat stadium on 9 acres at the site of the Tropicana resort, located on the south Strip, with the A’s financing about $1.1 billion of the $1.5 billion cost. The A’s are pushing for relocation to Las Vegas because they have been unable to win approval of a plan to replace crumbling Oakland Coliseum, the worst stadium in the sport, with a Bay Area waterfront ballpark.
Under the A’s financing proposal, tax revenue for the project would be generated by a special district encompassing the stadium. Various taxes generated within the district would repay bonds issued to fund construction. The bonds would be paid back over 30 years.
Transferable tax credits also would be used to fund some of the public contribution.
Bally’s Corp., which owns the Tropicana, and Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc., which owns the land the resort sits on, said they would provide the A’s with about $180 million worth of land at no cost, pending legislative approval of the team’s public funding request and MLB approving relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas.
Soo Kim, chairman of Bally’s Corp., told the Review-Journal last week that the companies hoped providing the A’s with free land would push lawmakers to continue the momentum toward landing the team in Southern Nevada.
“We would love to see some type of similar commitment from the county and state,” Kim said. “That’s a collective community effort to attract all of these franchises and all of the economic activity that comes with it. … We’re planting the flag and hope that everyone gets there.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.