Debate continues over whether a Washington Commanders stadium deal will be beneficial for D.C. or not.
On Wednesday afternoon, an organization against the project laid out its concerns over the project and the bill for taxpayers.
“This is really a deal for the Commanders and not for the District,” said Ed Lazere, a member of No Billionaire’s Playground Coalition.
Lazere said the District should not be offering a deal that provides the team and its owner, Josh Harris, “substantial free land” which he believes “will be worth billions of dollars to them” while also making major cuts to the city budget.
“It’s a real contrast that we are focused on subsidizing a billionaire at a time when residents will be suffering as a result of these budget cuts,” Lazere said.
One billion dollars of taxpayer money is being reserved for the $3.7 billion project — a project the city has said would anchor the Commanders at the old RFK Stadium site and result in a complete redevelopment of its campus. The project would also include new employment opportunities and surrounding businesses that would also bring in more housing.
Geoffrey Propheter, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver, studies local government affairs, works with sports teams around the nation and is author of the book “Major League Sports and the Property Tax.”
During a discussion with the coalition, Propheter said that taxpayers could be paying more than they expected because the property used by the team would not see market value rents.
“Roughly 20 acres of heavily discounted rent, that’s the big pot of money. That really is what’s being given up,” he said.
While the city said bonds would be used to fund needed infrastructure improvements and parking structures, Propheter said additional costs would come as the city pays interest on those bonds. He also raised concerns about the cost of municipal services for the project which would need to be provided to the area, and the additional price tag for those services.
In the past, D.C. Administrator Kevin Donahue told WTOP much of the infrastructure is in place, including Metro, because the community has housed a stadium which drew big crowds in the past.
The coalition is among those who believe the city is rushing into a deal that isn’t in the city’s best interests.
“We’re just concerned that the District has not considered other alternatives that would really directly invest in the community, bring direct benefits to the community at much lower cost, and that we must do that as we consider this,” Lazere said.
The D.C. Council is currently deciding when it would vote on whether to give the project the green light. However, Mayor Muriel Bowser is delaying her decision, which could put the deal in jeopardy.
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