Stadium Questions Do Have Answers

Voters will decide Tuesday whether to help software billionaire Paul Allen pay for a new sports stadium and exhibition center in Seattle.

There’s been all kinds of talk about the project, and the complicated proposal has created plenty of confusion.

Stadium supporters point out that the proposal doesn’t increase general taxes, such as sales or property taxes.

That’s true. Yet a lot of public money - $327 million - would go into the project.

Backers say only sports fans and patrons of the exhibition center would pay for the project. But there are a lot of assumptions built into that calculation.

Then there is the question of what happens to the Seahawks if voters turn down Referendum 48.

What follows are some common questions about the stadium, and answers. The complete text of legislation voters are asked to consider is provided in voters’ pamphlets mailed to every voter’s household.

Question: What does Referendum 48 ask voters to decide?

Answer: Whether to spend $327 million in public money to tear down Seattle’s Kingdome and build a 72,000 seat, open-air, natural grass stadium for football and soccer; a 325,000-square-foot exhibition hall; and a 3,000-stall parking garage on the same spot.

Q: Is that the total price tag?

A: State taxpayers would shoulder a $300 million, 23-year debt to help pay for the project, but the total price tag is $425 million.

Q: Where would the money come from?

A: A total of $100 million comes from Allen, including about $50 million from the sale of personal seat licenses at the stadium. Another $101 million comes from a state sales tax credit to King County; $127 million from lottery revenues; $56 million from a 10 percent parking and ticket tax at the facility; and $40 million from extension of the state sales tax on hotel and motel rooms rented in King County. Another $27 million comes from a state sales tax break on construction and $14 million from interest earned on $50 million Allen pays into an escrow account up front.

Q: Isn’t that more than $425 million?

A: The package also provides a contingency reserve and money for a grant program for community and youth athletic facilities.

Q: So if I don’t go to the stadium, will I still help pay for it?

A: Indirectly. Money that would have gone into the state general fund would instead be diverted to pay for the stadium. Lottery proceeds used to pay for the stadium could also come out of money that would otherwise benefit public schools.

Q: Isn’t it just like the Mariners stadium, for which special sports scratch tickets were created?

A: No. The Legislature authorized the creation of new lottery games to help pay for the stadium. But there is no requirement that they have sports themes. The only requirement is that $6 million a year in lottery revenues be poured into the stadium, with that amount increasing 4 percent annually. If the new games don’t generate that much money, lottery proceeds will be diverted from other games. Allen is also required to spend $1 million a year promoting the games.

Q: Does the economic benefit of keeping the Seahawks in town and revenue generated by new lottery games cancel out the loss of state revenue to build the project?

A: Backers say yes. Others aren’t sure. Supporters rely on assumptions about how much money new lottery games can raise and projections of how much money the Seahawks can generate in a new stadium.

Q: Why build a new football stadium? Why not keep using the Kingdome?

A: Stadium backers say they need a new venue because the team can’t earn enough money from luxury boxes, concessions and other amenities to pay the salaries needed to field a competitive team.

Q: Is the Kingdome paid for?

A: No. It still carries $127 million in debt, including $70 million owed for roof repairs.

Q: So what happens to that debt if the Kingdome is torn down?

A: The roof repair, which is being paid off by King County taxpayers, would be paid for with an extension of the state sales tax on hotel and motel rooms rented in King County. The original construction debt for the stadium also would be paid off through the hotel motel tax.

Q: I thought the hotel-motel tax extension was to build the new stadium.

A:It is, as of the year 2016. The existing 2 percent hotel-motel tax will pay off the debt for the original construction of the Kingdome by 2012. Then, the stadium deal authorizes the tax to be extended through 2015 to pay off the debt for the Kingdome ceiling and roof repair. After that, the tax would go toward paying off the bonds for the new stadium.

Q: Who would own the new stadium and exhibition facility?

A: The public, through a public stadium authority. Allen’s company would control design and construction of the buildings, in return for his promise to cover any cost overrun.

Q: Who would operate the facility and maintain it?

A: Paul Allen. The proposal requires him to use revenues from the sale of naming rights for repairs. Taxes on parking and tickets also would go to improvements and repairs once the bonds are paid off.

Q: Allen’s rich. Why doesn’t he just build the project with his own money?

A: Allen has said he wants to form a partnership with the people of the state that shows support for keeping the Seahawks in Seattle. If the ballot measure passes, Allen says he will buy the team.

Q: What if Referendum 48 fails?

A: Allen says he’ll walk away from his $20 million option to purchase the team.

Q: What then?

A: A search would probably ensue for other local buyers. Lawsuits intended to hold current team owner Ken Behring to his lease at the Kingdome would be pressed by county and state government. That lease has nine years left to run.

Q: Why build an open-air stadium in a city that’s cold and rainy in winter?

A: To have natural turf, for one thing, which is needed to attract professional soccer. Backers also say that fans prefer outdoor stadiums. About 70 percent of the seats would be covered by a roof similar to the one at Husky Stadium.

Q: Who gets the revenue from the new stadium and exhibition center, including money from advertising, concessions, club seats, luxury boxes, parking and subleases to other tenants?

A: Paul Allen gets all the revenues from the stadium and 80 percent of the money from events at the exhibition center. The remaining 20 percent goes to public school construction.

Q: Does he pay any rent?

A: He must pay a minimum of $850,000 a year, less than the $1.2 million a year the Seahawks pay now at the Kingdome.

, DataTimes