Read the entire article here on the Oregonian website.

Portland sweetens its pot
Backers of bringing major league baseball to the city hope an updated stadium finance plan will generate renewed interest
By JOHN HUNT
The Oregonian
Friday, May 14, 2004

An updated stadium finance plan from the city appears to put Portland closer to regaining its status as a viable relocation candidate for Major League Baseball.

City facilities manager David Logsdon said the plan now accounts for about $340 million of the projected $350 million project cost and will be sent to Major League Baseball headquarters in New York in time for the May 19-20 owners meetings.

Whether it will be enough to put Portland back in the forefront of relocation remains to be seen.

"We still need to firm up some of what's in the $340 million, but the pieces are much more solid than they were a year ago when we made the initial presentation to Major League Baseball," Logsdon said.

Washington, D.C., is widely thought to be the frontrunner for the Expos, although none of the seven areas in the running -- Washington, Las Vegas, Northern Virginia, Portland, Norfolk, Va., Monterrey, Mexico or San Juan, Puerto Rico -- has been eliminated from consideration.

Portland, because of a lack of progress since the passage of Senate Bill 5 last August, has dropped from the frontrunner group. But the updated plan could rekindle interest in Portland among committee members for a relocated team -- even if it's not the Expos.

"We want them to know we're still working on it and making progress," Logsdon said.

Here's the breakdown of the revised plan:

Income taxes, $125 million:

What started as a $150 million contribution from Senate Bill 5 -- the piece of legislation that would enable income taxes from players and other team members to be diverted to a fund that would pay off bonds -- dropped to near $100 million. But projections are up again after some revenue streams have been combined to get a better yield, Logsdon said.

"One of the challenges in this whole finance plan was translating that state bill into a reliable, bondable dollar figure," he said. "What we've settled on, the best way to do that, is to do more of an integrated bond structure, combining the revenues we would get from that state income tax, in addition to the ticket tax."

Ticket tax, $75 million:

Projections for a 10 percent tax on tickets have been raised. Because the state does not collect sales tax, it's a reasonable fee, Logsdon said.

Concessions and merchandise tax, $25 million:

This is a new eight-percent tax on goods sold inside the stadium -- again, in lieu of sales taxes that most states collect.

Stadium district, $75 million:

This is a big, still somewhat amorphous chunk, where the city hopes to collect revenue from businesses within a half-mile or so from the stadium.

All manner of mechanisms, from business fees to the restructuring of existing debt systems will be used.

"We haven't closed down the issue between the hospitality industry and the hotels and general business -- how we complete the package," Logsdon said.

The hospitality industry quickly and permanently shot down the early idea of increasing the hotel and vehicle rental tax rates.

"We have to estimate business growth in the area, figure out a mechanism to capture a portion of that growth and roll that back into the finance plan," Logsdon said.

Other sources, $40 million:

Projections for charter seat licenses, tax increment financing and local improvement districts remain unchanged.

Team equity, $0:

This is the money that is asked of an ownership group up front -- the check a franchise owner would have to write to close the deal on the stadium. Major League Baseball has told Portland proponents that the figure should be as close to zero as possible.

But team equity and the other numbers are mere estimates at this point.

Mayor Vera Katz, in charge of securing the local financing to augment the state's share from Senate Bill 5, was unavailable for comment, but spokesman Scott Farris said Portland "continues to have a real interest in the Expos but also again to emphasize that if that does not work, we're always interested in any team that may seek to have a relocation."

The relocation committee will brief baseball owners at next week's meetings. At some point, it will make a recommendation to commissioner Bud Selig.

Baseball officials have said they hope to reach a decision on the Expos' fate by the All-Star Game on July 13, but that process could drag on through the end of the season.

John Hunt: 503-294-7643; johnhunt@news.oregonian.com