So far we know a few myths are going to bite the dust. There will be a significant contribution from the Maloofs. More than a good number previous deals in other cities. There will be no sweetheart 1$ a year lease payment. We also know that the tax has a retirement date. Which means it will take another vote by the public to extend this tax beyond the retirement date. So it's temporary unless the public votes to not make it temporary.
So the city is the landlord collecting lease payments from the Kings who run the arena business. If I go out and purchase my own McDonalds franchise and lease store space in my local mall. I do the hiring, pay the benefits, pay the franchise fee and buy all the product. So after expenses I make a profit. Somebody explain why this model should be that I have to give the profit back to my landlord. That's not running a business, it's being an employee. So the Maloofs are running the arena. They hire the staff and supply the pro teams, book the events, maintain the building and contribute 20% of the cost to build the thing. We know that their payroll for the Kings alone ranges in the 55-60 million range and they make lease payments to the city of 3 million a year and the city gets a nice new tax revenue stream.
So the public gets screwed? Well if you go down to Best Buy and buy a new TV for $300, you'll pay an extra 75 cents in tax. I lose more change than that in my couch. My kids throw more quarters into the gumball machine at my local Round Table Pizza joint. And in return the public gets a state of the art arena located in among a nice resturants, retail, rail museum and maybe even a nice San Antonio'esque river walk. We get that to replace dirt piles and railroad tracks in the next 3-5 years instead of the next 15-20 years.
It's a no-brainer in my book.
