Posts Tagged Cleveland Cavaliers
Want a Just City Tax… Try Admission Tax on Sports Events, Fair and Proper
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Politicians on November 24, 2009
November 24, 2009… The most reasonable tax for Cleveland City Council to raise income would be a special admissions tax on all events at Progressive Field, Quicken Arena, and Browns Stadium.
Why?
The reason is mainly because none of the teams pay any property taxes on their sports facilities. Not a penny.
They ride FREE.
Somehow Mayor Frank Jackson and City Council always overlook the guys at the top of the ladder. In this case, all Billionaires. How predictable.
We shall see how it makes sense.
A 10 percent added admission tax would bring in millions of new revenue. The tax would actually probably have an added benefit to sports fans. The teams would have to think twice before raising ticket prices.
So it’s likely that a major part of the cost would have to be borne by the teams and the already – if not over-paid – well paid athletes.
It would be fairer because, although the city pays the high cost of policing the sports events and takes the loss of property taxes, the fan base comes from a wide geographic area. Most likely most fans come from outside Cleveland and many outside Cuyahoga County.
They don’t share the burden of the cost of the stadiums to the city and county taxpayers. They enjoy the benefits, however.
So they should pay.
Even more to the point, the three team owners – Randy Lerner, Dan Gilbert and Larry Dolan – all come from billionaire families.
Who can afford to pay more taxes – billionaire families or an ordinary Cleveland family? It’s a trick question for the mayor and council members.
Even Mayor Jackson and Council President Marty Sweeney can figure that one out. If they want to.
If you can afford to go to games and events at these venues, built largely with government funds and advantaged with full 100 percent property tax relief, you should be willing to pay that extra charge to Cleveland.
After all, Cleveland residents feel the impact of the lost revenue from the exemption of property taxes. Some 15 percent would go to the city for its operation.
If you look at the attendance and average ticket price at events you can get a picture of how much money this could mean for the city.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had attendance in 2008-09 of 820,439, actually down from the previous season of 839,674. At an average price cited for tickets at the arena of $50, the Cavs would have attendance income of $41,983,700.
A 10 percent added admission tax would mean income of some $4.19 million in revenue for the city.
The Cleveland Browns had 578,672 in attendance (latest figures from 2006). At an average price of $55 for football tickets, it would mean revenue income of $31.8 million.
A 10 percent added admission tax would produce $3,182,696 of income for the city.
The Cleveland Indians had 27,110 in average in attendance for 80 games for an attendance of 2,168,800. At an average price of $26 for baseball tickets here, it would mean $56,388,800 in ticket revenue.
At a 10 percent added admission tax it would produce $5,638,880 for the city.
The city would earn more than $13 million in added admission tax revenue. It would produce more revenue than a garbage tax.
It would produce such revenue in a fairer manner. It would likely keep ticket price increases smaller or nonexistent.
The market will bear just so much, although sports fans seem to be unthinking consumers, paying more and more even though the teams reap huge amounts of money from television and radio and other sources. The NFL teams, for example, share some $100,000,000 (yes the zeros are correct) in revenue from broadcast and other sales of team products.
If you charged the 10 percent for ALL events at these tax-subsidized, property tax evaders, the city would earn even more money.
Doesn’t this make more sense and isn’t this fairer than taxing garbage?
Former Cop’s Arrest Story Differs from Dan Gilbert’s Version
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media, People on October 30, 2009
October 30, 2009… A former Michigan state trooper tells a different story of Dan Gilbert’s arrest for operation of a gambling business than the Cavs owner has been peddling to the news media. Gilbert has made it seem a minor episode, best forgotten.
Gilbert, a billionaire of the mortgage business and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been a lead proponent of a monopoly casino issue on the November ballot. Issue 3 will give Gilbert a monopoly casino in Cleveland.
A lieutenant detective tells of the arrest of Gilbert when he was a Michigan student. He posed as the father of a gambling debtor. He said a victim told him of a strong-armed threat unless he paid. He also linked a car filled with manure to the betting business as a method of forcing collections of gambling debts.
The detective, John Fiedler recorded the meeting with Gilbert when he went to pay the debt. He said he was shown a ledger with betting data with pages of bets made, some as high as $1,000 or more.
Here is his statement in full:
“My name is John Fiedler, and I was a member of the Michigan Department of State Police for 25 years.
“In 1981, while I was a Detective Lieutenant in charge of the organized crime unit, the East Lansing Police asked my unit to assist them with a criminal investigation into an illegal bookmaking operation that eventually led to the arrest of Dan Gilbert.
“I have read Mr. Gilbert’s explanation of what happened that day. I’m here to tell you what really happened.
“East Lansing Police received a complaint from a young man who owed a significant amount of money to the bookies. It was over $1000 but I cannot remember the exact amount.
“After interviewing the victim, I had him call and say that his father planned to pay his debt and arrange a meeting between the bookies and his dad. I posed as the young man’s father and entered an off-campus house where I met two men. One of them was Dan Gilbert, and Dan Gilbert did all the talking.
“I was wearing a hidden recorder and transmitter and I asked him why he believed that my ‘son’ owed him so much money. The other man left the room and returned with a ledger. He showed me all of the bets that he had made – and I got to see lists of bets that others had made. I do not remember the number of bets but several pages of the ledger book were filled.
“There were $10 bets, $100 bets and even some $1,000 bets.
“The victim had personally told me that Mr. Gilbert had grabbed him and pushed him up against the wall, making threats that he had better pay up. Another police officer who worked on the case said one victim who did not pay had his car filled with manure and it contained a letter threatening bodily harm.
“I asked Mr. Gilbert why he felt the need to threaten my ‘son’ and he told me that he was owed the money and my ‘son’ refused to pay.
“So I paid him the money, signaled to the East Lancing Police, and they entered the house and arrested both men.
“I understand that the voters of Ohio have a big decision to make on Tuesday. When I learned Mr. Gilbert’s characterization of what happened back in 1981, I agreed to tell the people of Ohio what really transpired. Mr. Gilbert was part of a serious, organized bookmaking ring that threatened some of its victims with violence.
“I am also here today because I learned that some members of Ohio’s law enforcement community believe that Issue 3 would severely limit the scope and authority of law enforcement over owners and investors of Ohio’s casinos. Based on my police experience in investigating crimes of this nature, I completely agree with concerns raised by the Ohio law enforcement community. Casinos are the type of industry that demands tough, impartial and complete oversight.
“I am not here to tell Ohio voters how to vote on Issue 3. I am here to try and make sure Ohio voters have the facts they need to make an informed choice.”