On May 6, 2005, at 2:24 PM, Pulse of the Twin Cities wrote:
DB: "So Twins, operators - ballpark commission, owners."
Thanks for clearing that up. Does that mean the Twins pay rent as a part of "all operating costs?" Would that make up for the property taxes that are in effect lost since it's not a private building?
Aaron, I'm venturing out a little further than I'd like on this one, but my read of the agreement is that the Twins have to sign a lease — but they don't necessarily pay rent. Instead, they assume all non-capital (non-building-improvement) expenses and all operating profits. The deal estimates operating costs - again, born by the Twins - at about $10 million a year.
(On rent: there's a codicil about the Twins' $85 million "second payment" for construction costs being considered a prepayment of rent. I think - again venturing out - that it's merely an internal baseball accounting thing so the Twins can stay within Major League Baseball debt-limit requirements.)
Back to the public-private relationship: the county chips in the $235 million (up to, actually; there's a skinny chance it could be less) and the $1.4 million a year for ballpark capital improvements (escalating with inflation) and the $500,000 or so to finance the ballpark commission annually (also escalating, no doubt). Beyond that, it is off the hook financially.
The property tax question is a good one. My guess is that the Twins won't pay property taxes. (At Target Center, Glen Taylor makes a personal payment in lieu of property taxes but I think this deal is different.)
By the way, the current Rapid Park owners pay $207,190 a year in property taxes that would be lost if the stadium gets built — that would be $6 million over 30 years, not counting inflation. Another caveat: it's hard to tell if the $207,000 is for the entire Rapid Park site; the county's property Web site maps are down. Also, not all of the Rapid Park site would be used for the ballpark.)
There are a lot of details and too many educated guesses here. If anyone can refine/explain to the list, let us know!
Hope this helps, David Brauer Kingfield
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