Bengals won't sign till tax dies
Team says fans can't afford
proposed boost to aid schools
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati EnquirerIn the team's strongest stand to date, a Cincinnati Bengals official said Monday the football club will not commit to a lease agreement with Hamilton County for a new stadium unless a proposal to increase city admissions taxes is killed.
Troy Blackburn, Bengals' director of stadium de-velopment, called the proposal by a Cincinnati City Council majority ''dead in the water.''
''The team can't afford it, and our fans can't afford it,'' Mr. Blackburn said. ''We will not sign any deal right now unless we have this resolved.''
Hamilton County commissioners need a signed lease agreement from either the Bengals or the Reds by June 30 or a half-cent countywide sales tax to finance two new stadiums will expire.
Under the plan, the city proposes to raise $100 million over 20 years for the Cincinnati Public Schools by applying the 2.1 percent earnings tax to visiting entertainers, dipping into the general fund for three years, and increasing the admissions tax.
The tax on tickets to for-profit events in the city would go from 3 percent to as much as 8.85 percent between 2000 and 2019.
The proposal was presented Monday to city council's Committee of the Whole. A vote is expected in committee April 15.
Councilman Phil Heimlich, one of the five who made the proposal, said he would be willing to talk with the Bengals.
But, he said, the city needs more revenue to reach the $100 million that it promised to the schools in an agreement with the county that paved the way for the sales tax increase.
''It's only fair for the Reds and Bengals to pitch in,'' he said, since the promise to the schools was made in the context of the teams getting new stadiums.
Councilman Charlie Winburn, another one of the five council members making the proposal, said that Mike Brown, Bengals president and general manager, needs to understand that it's time to stand up for the city's children.
''You need to understand we cannot just have first-class stadiums and a fourth-class school system,'' Mr. Winburn said.
If the admissions tax increase passes, Mr. Blackburn argued, the team would have two choices: pay the additional tax itself, which would amount to at least $1.5 million a year, or pass the cost to fans through higher ticket prices. The Bengals estimate it would add more than $30 to the average price of a season ticket.
In a letter to the editor that Mr. Brown sent to The Enquirer, he wrote:
''It's clever politics, perhaps, to put the sports teams in a position where they may appear opposed to legitimate school funding. But an honest look at this plan reveals that it simply doesn't work.''
Hamilton County Administrator David Krings said the Bengals have long been aware of the terms of the agreement between the city and county.
Commissioner John Dowlin said he has no objections to the admissions tax increase. ''I've always said Joe Six-Pack, who is paying for the stadium in the form of this sales tax, probably can't afford a ticket anyway.''
The increase would apply to the Reds, too, once their new stadium is built, as well as other for-profit events. The Reds could not be reached for comment Monday.
Mr. Blackburn said the proposal to tax out-of-town athletes when they work in Cincinnati will die of its own accord as it has in the past when the notion has come up.
''We think it's silly,'' he said.
He said as soon as Cincinnati asks athletes to pay their income tax, other cities will follow. Before long, many cities will have the same requirement and the revenue will be ''a wash'' because Cincinnati will lose the Bengals' income tax when the team is on the road.
Cincinnati officials estimate the city could make $500,000 over the course of an entire year by charging out-of-town athletes and performers the city's sales tax.
Cleveland's commissioner of taxation, Nassim Lynch, estimated that his city earns at least $1 million a year from a similar tax.
Cleveland's tax has been in place since 1966, and Mr. Lynch's department has been strictly enforcing it for about six years without much trouble, he said.
''I'm not going to make it sound like it's a bed of roses,'' he said of his city's tax. ''But it would be worthwhile to go after it.''
Laura Goldberg contributed to this report.
MIKE BROWN'S LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Previous stories
Bengals balk at tax plan March 24,1997