jim crandell from fox 40 just reported a story

[d0rkus]

tonight about the arena and i'll try to sum it up the best i can.

some nba personell is here and we should know about it by this weekend.
he pretty much said that they want a ballot to be put up so we (the voters/residence) can vote on the whole arena subject.

if it does not pass, that means the next time they can bring up the arena issue will be in 2008, if it passes then, the arena will be made/built by 2010-11.

so it makes you think if the maloofs will wait that long or move the kings :|

 

[BMiller52]

I have a bad feeling that people just don't want to spend the money on a new arena. It doesn't matter that they as an individual end up spending 20$ and the Maloofs end up spending 100,000,000$. I've talked to a few Sacramentans about it and they just don't like the idea of raising taxes and spending money on something they technically don't own. Honestly I don't really expect the Maloofs to wait years and years while Arco breaks down. The NBA does not seem to feel sorry for people that only have to spend 20$ish(although that's less than a ticket...) each to keep their basketball team.

 

[d0rkus]

unfortunately that's true.
some local news did a poll, and since the 02-03 season ( i think that's when the new arena started) the residence here had a higher approval rate then compared to now. which declined every year since it was a no and is at a all time low :|

 

[kupman]

Honestly, I feel that if the public does not want fork over one dime for a new arena which will benefit the community in a number of ways, then the public does not deserve the Kings or other great entertainment. There are plenty of cities that would love to support this franchise and the Maloofs would be smart to relocate the team to one of those cities.

 

[BigWaxer]

Again my feelings aside, Not like I know a ton of people but just the ones I have, both democrat,republican, whatever middle side left right up down and I would say 1 out of 10 said they would vote for a tax, mind you these were usually talks during some "LIQUID" adventures.

It is almost JULY... Elections 4 mo away and we haven't heard one thing regarding this plan. What is wrong with this picture? I am all for this passing but the way it's being done is killing me. I am going to give them a chance, going to breathe... inhale, exhale

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

The public WONT EVER vote in a tax increase for anything dealing with a new arena, just because of who owns the Kings...and the persistant 'Billionaire Boys' club comments, and 'if they want an arena, why cant they build it themselves' stuff. Shhhhh....just plain closed minded and stupid! But hey, they'll have my 1 'yes' vote when it's put on the ballot.

 

[BMiller52]

The public WONT EVER vote in a tax increase for anything dealing with a new arena, just because of who owns the Kings...and the persistant 'Billionaire Boys' club comments, and 'if they want an arena, why cant they build it themselves' stuff. Shhhhh....just plain closed minded and stupid! But hey, they'll have my 1 'yes' vote when it's put on the ballot.

See that's what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter how much the tax increase is, people just don't want to spend money. I mean honestly when you look at it the Maloofs will pay for 25-30% of it which for a 400 million dollar arena is 100 million dollars. I wish they would try for a hotel/rental car tax instead because then OUR citizens wouldn't get taxed too much.

 

[VF21]

We don't know what the proposal is going to be... At this point, it seems like a total waste of energy to argue about something that doesn't even exist yet.

 

[D-Mass]

See that's what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter how much the tax increase is, people just don't want to spend money. I mean honestly when you look at it the Maloofs will pay for 25-30% of it which for a 400 million dollar arena is 100 million dollars. I wish they would try for a hotel/rental car tax instead because then OUR citizens wouldn't get taxed too much.

I'm convinced that a lot of people don't even pay attention to the amount. They just hear the word "tax" and freak out.

 

[Bricklayer]

I'm convinced that a lot of people don't even pay attention to the amount. They just hear the word "tax" and freak out.

You've noticed that huh?

Yes, extends far beyond just this arena thing obviously. This is why a wise politician, of which Sacramento appears to have few, should be couching things in terms of bonds or fees, not "taxes". That's just been made into a dirty word that many an unsophisticated voter will vote against without much if any underlying understanding of the issues. If you said you needed to raise taxes to save a resue center for homeless orphans 40% of the population would knee jerk vote "no" before you even got to the substance.

 

[BigWaxer]

See that's what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter how much the tax increase is, people just don't want to spend money. I mean honestly when you look at it the Maloofs will pay for 25-30% of it which for a 400 million dollar arena is 100 million dollars. I wish they would try for a hotel/rental car tax instead because then OUR citizens wouldn't get taxed too much.

Yes and we don't know yet.

Very few taxes I would support but that is one I would. It taxes the actualy people that use the arena. I wouldn't mind a ticket tax either. The entire issue is such a big scale, arena brings in tax dollars (especially downtown) although thats been proven wrong recently forgot the article on it. It's a lot of money, we are in a bad spot because our cost is so much more then other areas around the country.

I think 25% or so is a fair shake for what the Maloofs should pay.

 

[kennadog]

A new arena is very likely going to cost quite a bit more than $400,000. That's just the way building in California is.

They have to have the plan hammered out by August 1st, I believe, to get is on the ballot. At this point, I think they are being very smart not to talk about it, until they have an agreed upon plan to present.

While I agree that any tax seems unlikely to pass, it may depend on the totality of the plan and its presentation. As to the polls on the subject, I hated those. The way the questions were asked were almost guaranteed to get a "no way jose" response. Heck, the way some questions were worded, I might have said no. That's what's wrong with polls.

(The only way government raises revenue on more consumer spending is through a sales tax, generally. That is very regressive tax and the poorer a person is the harder hit they take from a regressive tax.)

 

[d0rkus]

See that's what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter how much the tax increase is, people just don't want to spend money. I mean honestly when you look at it the Maloofs will pay for 25-30% of it which for a 400 million dollar arena is 100 million dollars. I wish they would try for a hotel/rental car tax instead because then OUR citizens wouldn't get taxed too much.

i agree w/ the hotel tax thing. remember seeing a example of the arena for memphis how they had an extra tax on hotels to help fund it. and there's a lot more hotels here in sac now compared to 20years ago.

 

[Warhawk]

A new arena is very likely going to cost quite a bit more than $400,000. That's just the way building in California is.

They have to have the plan hammered out by August 1st, I believe, to get is on the ballot. At this point, I think they are being very smart not to talk about it, until they have an agreed upon plan to present.

While I agree that any tax seems unlikely to pass, it may depend on the totality of the plan and its presentation. As to the polls on the subject, I hated those. The way the questions were asked were almost guaranteed to get a "no way jose" response. Heck, the way some questions were worded, I might have said no. That's what's wrong with polls.

(The only way government raises revenue on more consumer spending is through a sales tax, generally. That is very regressive tax and the poorer a person is the harder hit they take from a regressive tax.)

Agreed. Who owns the arena? How much are the Maloofs going to kick in? Where specifically does the tax money go? What projects get funded in addition to the arena? How much is the tax, and where is it levied?

All important questions. All unanswered as of now. We need to see what the proposal is before we approve or bash it.

 

[BigWaxer]

Agree with Both Kenna and War...Also with that ownership question Warhawk.

Will the Maloofs be willing to "lease" for a better term an arena that is city owned? I wonder how thats all going to play out. I would assume if you look at their past ventures they are going to want some sort of control if not full control and again I am a speculating fool today... need to calm down! haha

Kenna were area do you live in YC? I am off 20 in Tierra Buena

 

[BigWaxer]

i agree w/ the hotel tax thing. remember seeing a example of the arena for memphis how they had an extra tax on hotels to help fund it. and there's a lot more hotels here in sac now compared to 20years ago.

More speculating but like Kenna said we are looking at a pretty big price tag, well over what Memphis paid.

I would understand if that hotel tax stuff just didn't raise enough to cover the cost. That could be a real possibility and I hope they disclose all that. It would make someone like me usually against taxes say okay, if this truely is the only way... In the end I would support a tax if they said hey look, this is it we do this to build an arena or we have to leave. I think that may alienate a lot of people, but people that look at both sides like myself and analyize things, this is a good strategy. Key is who actually does that.