LVSportsBiz Confidential: Bet The House On Clark County Commissioners Approving A’s Stadium Tax District Tuesday
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Here in Vegas they say there’s no sure bet.
But I have one for you.
LVSportsBiz.com is betting the house that Clark County commissioners Tuesday approve a stadium tax district on the Strip to raise money for the principal and interest on $120 million the county will borrow in bonds to help the MLB Athletics build their $1.75 billion palatial domed stadium at the former Tropicana hotel-casino site.
A state bill approved by Nevada lawmakers in 2023 designated $380 million in government assistance for the A’s stadium construction costs — including Clark County’s $120 million contribution in bonds plus another $25 million from Clark County for infrastructure at the ballpark at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
Indeed, Clark County is contributing $145 million to help build a 33,000-fan capacity ballpark for a team owned by a family operating the Gap retail empire while the same county cannot even build a needed sidewalk on Koval Lane across from the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix pit building near the Harmon Avenue intersection.
In the name of democracy Tuesday, Clark County will put on a government show during the commission meeting to approve the tax district that is supposed to raise the money to pay off the debt on the $120 million in bonds. The money to be raised will be more than $120 million because there’s interest to be paid — just like the interest you pay on your house. The A’s hope to break ground in June to build a stadium for the 2028 MLB season. The team is playing three seasons (2025-27) in a minor league stadium in West Sacramento while the stadium on the Strip is built.
At the hearing scheduled for 10 AM, there will be loads of official government tax district jargon that’s difficult to decode like the actual agenda item that leaves out the word, “stadium.”
Take a look. Clark County staff did not even want the public to see that it involves the A’s stadium.
Yes, it’s a “Sports and Entertainment Improvement District No. 1.” The district will raise money by charging fees and taxes on everything from beers to souvenirs to even the rides that deliver fans to the ballpark. LVCVA head/stadium board chairman/A’s advocate Steve Hill said there are charges on about 17 different items in the nine-acre stadium district (the stadium footprint) on the 35-acre site owned by Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI).
Click on the tax district agenda item and there’s more public info:
Why a tax district, you ask?
Simple. No public vote on government money to help build the stadium.
You will notice that the public money raised to pay off the more than $1.2 billion in debt on the bonds for the $750 million public contribution for the Raiders stadium construction and the bond debt for the A’s stadium construction did not require a public vote.
That’s because the Raiders and A’s — and their advisors — know that if there was a referendum on using public money to help build stadiums in Clark County the voters would likely vote it down like they did in Kansas City for the Chiefs stadium project.
So, they went the state law route, with Nevada lawmakers in 2016 enacting a hotel room tax to help pay for the Raiders stadium and in 2023 approving a tax district and tax credits to help underwrite the construction of the A’s stadium. It was Hill, along with friend and local Las Vegas consultant Jeremy Aguero, speaking before the 2023 state Legislature to advocate for the A’s stadium construction subsidy.
Tuesday’s county commission vote on the A’s stadium tax district is a done deal, folks.
It’s a mere formality. Oh, you will have a chance to throw in your two cents during the public hearing on the tax district. And it will have the appearance of you having a say on the matter.
But you can’t stop what the Strip’s hotel owners want.
The whole point of not having a public vote on public money being used to help build a stadium is to keep you — the local voter and resident — from influencing the decision.
To make sure the outcome is wired from the inside, the A’s contributed $10,000 apiece to the election campaigns of Clark County commissioners Michael Naft and William McCurdy II. They even contributed $10,000 to former Commissioner Ross Miller even though he did not even run in November. His county commission seat is now held by April Becker.
Meanwhile, there’s also county commissioner Jim Gibson, whose district includes the A’s stadium site and who has been a very loud cheerleader for the Athletics ballpark subsidy and project.
Indeed, the county commissioners are starry-eyed sports fans who failed to scrutinize these public subsidy deals on behalf of locals.
There’s a simple reason for that, too. The county commissioners follow their marching orders from the hotel companies running the Strip like MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Las Vegas. And Steve “Man of Many Hats” Hill, LVCVA chief/stadium board chairman/A’s surrogate, gets the LVCVA to promote the sports events and stadiums endorsed by the hotel-casino industry.
When your economy is a one-trick pony, that’s what you get, Las Vegas.
Las Vegas looks all glamorous and glittery on TV, but the dynamic of how things are run here is that of a small, single-industry company town.
There is nothing wrong with welcoming major league sports teams to Las Vegas if team owners pay for their entire stadium construction costs. But a local government helping pay for stadium construction to benefit the financial bank statements of team owners is highly controversial.
“It’s deeply troubling that, much like the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, the Clark County Commission appears poised to rubber-stamp this economically debunked stadium project with little transparency or public accountability,” said Alexander Marks, deputy executive director of field & communications for the Nevada State Education Association.
“Despite overwhelming evidence that publicly funded stadiums fail to deliver on promised economic benefits,” Marks told LVSportsBiz.com, “commissioners appear set to approve a tax district and bond issuance to benefit a California billionaire while shifting all the risk onto Nevada taxpayers.”
LVSportsBiz.com will be there Tuesday to cover the county commission hearing and hear the usual song-and-dance about how great stadiums are for Las Vegas.
Too bad there’s not the same political will and public investment for health care, education, mass transit and housing.
Here’s a little secret — having nationally-recognized medical care, schools, public transportation and a public trail network is what really makes your town big-league.
PROMO
