Field of Schemes: Alexandria mayor claims Caps/Wizards arena plan ‘minimizes the risk’ for taxpayers despite all evidence to the contrary
Neil DeMause writes:
If there’s one kind of article that I wish could be banned from all news outlets, it’s the single-source stenography piece. This happens when someone Important, usually an elected official but sometimes just a rich guy, opens their mouth and says things, and a reporter transcribes it all and puts it into print without asking questions like “Is this true?” and “Am I just being used as a propaganda tool?”
We had a couple of those yesterday, and they contain all the bad hallmarks of the genre. Washington, D.C.’s WTOP ran one titled “Alexandria mayor says funding plan for Wizards, Capitals arena at Potomac Yard ‘minimizes the risk’ for taxpayers,” which is an accurate headline in that, yes, Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson did indeed say that. How does it do that, according to the mayor?
Wilson told WTOP that Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns the sports franchises, will pay a “significant private investment upfront, and ongoing rent that is paid for by the private sports teams, by Monumental.”
The rest of the project’s cost will be covered by tax revenue generated by the complex itself…
“It’s a model that minimizes the risk on the taxpayers, both the state and the city, and helps drive economic growth in Potomac Yard, which is ultimately what we’re trying to do,” Wilson said.
That’s just tax-increment financing, and it doesn’t minimize risk at all. The tax revenue generated at the Capitals and Wizards arena complex would be going toward paying off $1.05 billion worth of bonds, and Virginia taxpayers would be on the hook for that money (plus about $300 million in other expenses) regardless of how much tax revenue came in. As Good Jobs First relates in its TIF explainer, such “underwater” TIFs are distressingly common:
Read the full article at Field of Schemes.
Read the Good Jobs First TIF explainer here.