Jump to content

Bengals, Hamilton County agree to delay $2.67 million payment for stadium until 2019


Recommended Posts

Bengals, Hamilton County agree to delay $2.67 million payment for stadium until 2019

Amanda Seitz
2:05 PM, May 9, 2018
3 hours ago
 
 
 
 
WCPO_Paul_Brown_Stadium_1447669158610_26893038_ver1.0_640_480.jpg
Copyright 2015 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
 
SHOW CAPTION

Hamilton County will have one more year to come up with the money needed to make a $2.67 million payment to the Cincinnati Bengals’ for game day operating costs.

The deal, which was struck between county commissioners and the NFL team, delays the $2.67 million bill the Bengals were expected to present to county taxpayers in June. WCPO was first to report that under the county’s 1997 lease agreement, taxpayers are expected to start picking up football game day operating costs this year

 
ADVERTISING

But the cash-strapped county can’t pay the Bengals this year because it faces $28 million budget deficit in 2019. The county is considering raising the sales tax to help keep the overcrowded jail running, pay for sheriff patrols and avoid deep cuts to staffing.

The lease calls for taxpayers to pick up the game day costs for the next nine years, and increases the payment by five percent every year. 

The new agreement allows the county to delay that payment until 2019. In the meantime, negotiations between county officials and the NFL team will continue, Hamilton County Commissioner Chris Monzel said.

“It gives us a year here to work with the Bengals,” Monzel said. “Just seeing they want to work with us is a good sign.”

The county’s lease with the Bengals has been controversial since voters first agreed to build the football stadium and the Cincinnati Red’s stadium on the city’s riverfront. Taxpayers have invested nearly $1 billion on the stadiums since voters approved a sales tax levy to construct them, a 2015 WCPO report revealed.

In exchange for the delay in payments, the county commissioners agreed to make $1.46 million in upgrades to the stadium by 2019. That money will come from sales taxes the county puts aside every year to make upgrades to the stadium. The upgrades will include new security cameras, escalator renovations, updated sales registers and locker room maintenance.

“The conversation continues,” Driehaus said of negations with the team. “It’s part of a broader discussion that the Bengals and the county are having collectively.”

The Bengals said in a statement that “many issues will be coming down the pike” regarding the lease agreement, which expires in 2026. The team has the option to extend the lease.

“The parties need to be able to work together so that those issues can be solved, so that Paul Brown Stadium remains a wonderful venue for sports fans, and so that Cincinnati’s riverfront remains a gem for the whole region.”

 

 

 

https://www.wcpo.com/news/government/local-politics/bengals-hamilton-county-agree-to-delay-267-million-payment-for-stadium-until-2019

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
12 hours ago, oldschooler said:

 

 

Enquirer already has lawyers on it.  They're generally a shit paper barely qualified for lining a bird cage but this shit is ridiculous.  No way is this legal and the extent of the censorship really makes you wonder just how bad it actually is to inspire that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

Small point perhaps, in the continuing 22-year media-driven lament, but the redactions were made by the County.  

 

 

 

Which is why I think the Enquirer has a good case.  Ohio has Sunshine Laws specifically designed to prevent this kind of thing.  I also suspect the county & team know this and are only anchoring with this blackout version.  If forced, they can release a version that's only halfway blacked out and still protect whatever it is they're trying to hide.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A simple Public Records Request--which the media do all of the time with governmental entities--is sufficient. Sunshine Laws are a different animal. The Bengals are a private organization, and under no obligations to disclose a piece of paper pertaining to contracts/business transactions. And, they cannot by law collude with the County for production of documents they have only a party right. Hamilton County is obligated to produce documents which are public in nature--but there are stipulations which allow governmental entities to redact or refuse to produce documents. One example is if the requests are "overly broad" in nature--"give me everything you got". Some documents may be attorney-client privileged. There are any number of reasons why the County sent this back zebra-striped.   

 

By this time tomorrow, you will have 59 different interpretations of what the stripes are, and maybe even an unredacted copy. But I really think the Enquirer will have to sue for that--which they no doubt will.    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

A simple Public Records Request--which the media do all of the time with governmental entities--is sufficient. Sunshine Laws are a different animal. The Bengals are a private organization, and under no obligations to disclose a piece of paper pertaining to contracts/business transactions. And, they cannot by law collude with the County for production of documents they have only a party right. Hamilton County is obligated to produce documents which are public in nature--but there are stipulations which allow governmental entities to redact or refuse to produce documents. One example is if the requests are "overly broad" in nature--"give me everything you got". Some documents may be attorney-client privileged. There are any number of reasons why the County sent this back zebra-striped.   

 

By this time tomorrow, you will have 59 different interpretations of what the stripes are, and maybe even an unredacted copy. But I really think the Enquirer will have to sue for that--which they no doubt will.    

Pretty much this.  Any executed monetary contract that a government organization engages in that is not deemed classified for national security reasons has to be open to inspection by the public.  PII or personal identifying information can be redacted like tax id #s, personal addresses, emails, etc.  but the bulk of the contract must be produced.  The Bengals themselves are under no obligation to produce anything unless under subpoena.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought this was produced under a FOIA request from the Enquirer with the county? 

 

No question they have lawyers working on it already, it's far too big a stick to beat the Bengals with & that's one of their favorite subjects. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Freedom of Information Act is a federal regulation--pertains to items made, or controlled by, the federal government. There may have been some federal contracts in this new agreement--would not know where--but the agreement was between the County and the Bengals. I would think Ohio's Public Records Request laws would be more applicable. The Enquirer lawyers can bang out filings until sunset against the Bengals, and they do not have to release a corner of a parchment. Their actions--if any--will be against the County, as the public entity involved. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

The Freedom of Information Act is a federal regulation--pertains to items made, or controlled by, the federal government. There may have been some federal contracts in this new agreement--would not know where--but the agreement was between the County and the Bengals. I would think Ohio's Public Records Request laws would be more applicable. The Enquirer lawyers can bang out filings until sunset against the Bengals, and they do not have to release a corner of a parchment. Their actions--if any--will be against the County, as the public entity involved. 

 

 

It was the county that released the all-toner version.  The Bengals wouldn't have to release anything at all. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

Arrogant and delusional. 

 

 

C'mon, a guy unironically referring to himself as a "redeemer" arrogant? Crazy talk.  He's just up on that cross because it gives him a better view from the sideline.  :ninja:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/11/2019 at 12:48 PM, Le Tigre said:

Small point perhaps, in the continuing 22-year media-driven lament, but the redactions were made by the County.  

 

Yes, including 

todd-portune-hamilton-county-commissione

What's Tony Orlando got to do with this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...