1) How much are our bond payments for this fiscal year ending June 2022?
2) How much did the DIF raise for fiscal year ending June 2022?
Comments
Common Sense said…
If this project was sold to the public as a "calculated risk" rather than adamantly "revenue nutruel" then I might have been more supportive of the deal. You can't help but to think you were deceived. Then the guy that made the deal rides off into the sunset just before we learn how much we're on the hook for. Just yesterday we learn that the team owners are making more money than they had ever dreamed, all while not paying the City taxes. What gives?
That is our point. As a businessman/taxpayer we can not gage the success of a project until we know these costs.
Common Sense said…
So the former city manager is going to be the new President of Dean College. Probably a big raise. Hard to believe that this is something that materialized overnight.
Common Sense said…
I'm sorry. Ed is going to be Dean's first ever Chancellor not President. Another made up job like the one he had at Holy Cross.
That’s right. You make statements that this project is a failure but you admit you have no idea. It’s one thing to challenge and demand accountability. It’s another to complain about increased attendance and having to walk more than 2 blocks to get to your destination or the lack of trees in Pickett Park. The knee jerk negativity is typical of Worcester. Reminds me of the people that were convinced that the Hanover Theatre would be a failure, or the people that opposed the Centrum.
If this blog had a like button, I would have tagged your comment wormtown! 👍
Anonymous said…
Is it possible for the WooSox to be wildly successful and the City not generating enough revenue from the increased taxes and parking to make the payments on the loans. Aren't they mutually exclusive?
Common Sense said…
I'm glad they're wildly successful, but don't you agree they should be paying taxes like most every other business in Worcester? Don't you think they should have paid a larger percentage of the cost of the stadium rather than having the taxpayers foot the whole $170 million? That's all we're saying.
Common Sense. Go do some research and see if the city is footing the entire cost of the project or if the team also has financial responsibility.
Anonymous said…
The question about the WooSox paying taxes is something I have questioned for some time now. I asked someone I know who is extremely familiar with taxes and he simply explained it to me. He said if a not for profit leases to another not for profit the lease is not taxable. If a not for profit leases to a for profit the property or portion of the property covered by the lease is taxable. He was quite certain of this and explained that is why both Union Station and the garage on Major Taylor Blvd are issues tax bills from the City. Based on this I think the WooSox should be paying taxes.
Anonymous said…
I am happy for Ed, but people are missing the bigger picture with the announcement from Dean College, the inherent value of woman in the workplace. I just read about the accomplishments Dr Paula Rooney and her retirement and then I thought to myself, Dean College had to replace one woman with two men. It just goes to show you woman are worth more than .70 on the 1.00 compared what a man makes.
Common Sense said…
According to Bill (CPA), A project that we were promised was going to be revenue nutrual is going to cost the taxpayers $4 million this year. Do you have an unlimited amount of money that the City's annual property tax increases don't bother you?
According to Kyrie Irving the world is flat. That doesn’t make it so.
Anonymous said…
The city has always given businesses tax breaks for a temporary amount of time when coming to Worcester. The hotel going across from Union Station is getting a $2.4 million tax break. Other hotels and companies have gotten tax breaks as well that have been brought to the city. This is ORH related not city related, when JetBlue arrived to Worcester, Massport gave them $150,000 in free advertisement and $275,000 in rebates on airport charges and fees which was good for 2 years. I’ve seen similar things where businesses in Worcester will get tax breaks for a couple of years and then start paying taxes. I would’ve been fine with that If the Woosox got a tax break for the first 2 years then started paying taxes but the fact that they aren’t paying any taxes at all is ridiculous
Anonymous said…
From everything I have read the deal with the WooSox favors the Team. The City was outmatched in negotiations and not paying taxes is just the cherry on top. Is there any other new business that has come to the City that is not paying any taxes?
Anonymous said…
To put the WooSox tax break into perspective, the comment above details the tax break for the new proposed hotel across from Union Station in the amount of $2.4 million. I assume this is over many years. To get this tax break the developer has to go obtain financing, build a hotel then hope that there investment of the hotel attracts enough patrons that they can pay their employees, their operating costs and their loans to construct the hotel. The taxes on the ball bark for a single year would most likely be higher than the $2.4 million. Also the economics of the construction are not the same. The City took out the loans to build the stadium and the only risk that the WooSox had was to get fans into seats for games which has proved not to be a problem in the Worcester area market. A tax break makes no sense.
Anonymous said…
How much risk could the WooSox have. In another comment someone stated there are 400,000 people within a 1/2 hour of the stadium. The capacity of the stadium is 10,000. That is a quarter of one percent of the population. Even the guy from Holy Cross who studies these things said attendence was not going to be a problem. So there was little to no risk to the WooSox, so how do you justify a tax break.
Anonymous said…
A comment or said “ The question about the WooSox paying taxes is something I have questioned for some time now. I asked someone I know who is extremely familiar with taxes and he simply explained it to me. He said if a not for profit leases to another not for profit the lease is not taxable. If a not for profit leases to a for profit the property or portion of the property covered by the lease is taxable. He was quite certain of this and explained that is why both Union Station and the garage on Major Taylor Blvd are issues tax bills from the City. Based on this I think the WooSox should be paying taxes.”
That’s true, but the WooSox could still avoid a tax bill by not structuring the deal as a lease, which is a taxable interest in real estate. If structured as a service contract or, more likely, a concession contract, it doesn’t deprecate a taxable interest in real estate. Look at it like a food vendor selling meal plans to kids at a college. The vendor is making a profit at a tax free location. If it were a lease, the vendor would pay taxes, so they don’t do it that way.
Common Sense said…
What hotel across from Union Station? I think it was proposed 6-7 years ago when the economy was starting to take off. There must be some issue like funding that's causing the delay. Of course, if we're headed into a recession then this will never break ground. Something weird I discovered. You can get a nice room at the Beachwood for under $200 a night, yet the Residence Marriott further down Plantation St. is asking $425. Go figure.
Comments
The hotel going across from Union Station is getting a $2.4 million tax break. Other hotels and companies have gotten tax breaks as well that have been brought to the city. This is ORH related not city related, when JetBlue arrived to Worcester, Massport gave them $150,000 in free advertisement and $275,000 in rebates on airport charges and fees which was good for 2 years. I’ve seen similar things where businesses in Worcester will get tax breaks for a couple of years and then start paying taxes. I would’ve been fine with that If the Woosox got a tax break for the first 2 years then started paying taxes but the fact that they aren’t paying any taxes at all is ridiculous
That’s true, but the WooSox could still avoid a tax bill by not structuring the deal as a lease, which is a taxable interest in real estate. If structured as a service contract or, more likely, a concession contract, it doesn’t deprecate a taxable interest in real estate. Look at it like a food vendor selling meal plans to kids at a college. The vendor is making a profit at a tax free location. If it were a lease, the vendor would pay taxes, so they don’t do it that way.