APAs the stadium situation in Miami suddenly becomes complicated, to say the least, Commissioner Roger Goodell has weighed in with a predictable yet ominous observation on the situation.
“We do want to see the Dolphins stay in Miami,” Goodell told Steve Wyche of NFL Network. “We want to see them stay in a facility that will allow them to compete, and to bring in other big events, including Super Bowls. That takes work, it takes investment, and [owner] Steve Ross was doing the investing and was really the guy who was putting his heart and soul into this and his passion into this. What’s frustrating is that it didn’t get a chance to get to the voters.”
The difference between “want” and “will” is subtle yet significant. Yes, we “want” the Dolphins to stay, in a facility better than the one they now have. So if they can’t get that, then anything is possible.
The situation has yet to approach the not-so-subtle-threat phase. Last year, Goodell and Steelers president Art Rooney II (chair of the stadium committee) traveled to Minnesota to explain to legislators that another year of governmental foot dragging would potentially result in moving truck loading.
The Dolphins tried in 2013 to finagle a partial public contribution to stadium upgrades without having to twist arms. The next phase surely will involve arm twisting. And if politicians like Will Weatherford refuse to say “uncle,” what the league wants could become what it had wanted.
If the NFL allows the Dolphins to leave Miami they should be ashamed.
This has been an issue of contention not just here in Miami, but in the State of Florida, all year.
We-the-people feel fleeced by the Miami Marlins stadium fiasco and are leery of another billionaire with his arm out and palm up.
Dude – invest in your company, upgrade your house, the people will come back to games – and The Big Games will come back to Miami!
If the owners of the Dolphins or any other sports team want a new stadium…..
LET THEM PAY FOR IT
Let’s get the NFL OFF the Welfare Rolls
Jeff Ireland’s pathetic offseason excursion would be well rounded out by the signing, and subsequent conversion to linebacker, of Tim Tebow. God (and therefore Tebow) knows full and well that Ireland didn’t waste enough money and draft picks on linebacker, because the corners and safeties are so talented and not injury prone at all….
When teams go all Dan Snyder, it sure makes it fun to watch them crumble. Back loading contracts with the expectation that the future will take care of itself is an empirically proven method to lose your job and get laughed at while your at it.
If they want the Dolphins to profitably remain in Miami, they should forget about the stadium talk and instead have Goodell usurp Ireland and replace him with someone recommended by Ozzie Newsome so fans can feel confident about their team’s future.
Give billionaires hundreds of millions in corporate welfare or else!!!
NFL should change the acronym to be what they really are = Negligently Fleecing Lawyers
Of course the NFL doesn’t want the Dolphins or any other current team to move. They don’t make any money that way. If they add teams, they get billions in entry fees from the new team owners to split between the existing owners. The NFL’s dream scenario would be to add both NFC and AFC teams in Los Angeles, because they know how much the two NY teams generate. Once the league gets two new teams in and those entry fees in their pockets, you’ll see teams with bad stadiums/poor attendance wander around the country again (Oilers/Titans, Rams, Cardinals, Colts, Browns/Ravens).
“We want to see them stay in a facility that will allow them to compete, and to bring in other big events, including Super Bowls. That takes work, it takes investment”
So, is that a confirmation that SF will win the superbowl 50 bid?
The NFL is just entertainment, nothing more. If taxpayers are getting destroyed so a selective few can get richer, then no thanks. Taxpayers everywhere need to stop giving in to this blackmail. The owners are rich enough to afford improvements on their own.
If you don’t know anything except what you think is going on then you shouldn’t comment at all. This tax increase its 1 percent to hotel tax, not Miami residents, tourists, and 2nd, this is not about the money, if Ross wanted to he could busy out the black card and do it, but if Ross is going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a stadium he needs to know his investment will pay off, if voters agree then he has more confidence that Miami residents will still come and support the dolphins, I.e make his money back, if they vote no, he knows he could be wasting money on people that don’t care either Way and he won’t recoup his investment. He is a billionaire got a reason, and I’m sure it’s not by listening to a bunch of people crying about how he should spend his money.
They will stay. This is just media pressure
Wait so its ok for them to spend their own money and bring million and millions to the community and the businesses in the area and yet they can’t get the people who will benefit to chip in ? I’m 50/50 on this one I think something with the politics and someone wanting to make sure Tampa gets Super Bowls was more likely the reason
Bring the ‘fins to Austin. At least we’d have a to-50 chance of seeing a decent team on the field.
It’s frustrating to see Goodell pushing the stadium at the expense of the taxpayers at a time when they’re already being overburdened by politicians and self-indulgent bureaucrats. Fans buy tickets to watch the game, not the stadium. Even though I’m eager to see the new stadium in Santa Clara, the reason I even care is because of the product on the field. I would have been just fine with the Niners staying at Candlestick. Hell, I’m actually going to miss the cool ocean air mixed with the smell of thousands of barbecue grills in anticipation for kickoff. That’s the real gameday experience – not the technology-based commercialist direction the Commish believes the Americans taxpayers ought to sacrifice for.
Raj wants to keep the outbreak confined.
I am all for telling ALL these billionaire owners to go to h#@$ when they ask for public money for their stadiums. BUT, the reality of the situation is that someone somewhere WILL give these guys what they want. What I think is unbelievable is that Ross only wanted the let the PUBLIC decide if they wanted to help him finance the improvements! He wasn’t strong-arming them or making threats. I think his tactics were pretty decent, actually. But what is totally unfathomable is Will Weatherford deciding HE knows what is best for the people of Dade Co. and their thoughts (and votes) be damned! Politicians like Weatherford are the reason our country is in the position it’s in right now.
If they can’t get them to stay in Miami, how about them going to Puerto Rico?
Hey AEG is looking for a team . This could be exactly what Philip is looking for thank you Florida! Being a huge Dolphin fan I’m glad things have gone the way they have , this could be a fresh start in an new city in a brand spanking new multi million / billon dollar stadium or Farmer’s Field as we call it. Welcome to Hollywood Los Angeles Dolphins !!
I’d love to see Roger (The Maras, The Rooneys & The Kraft’s — bc it’s then who run the NFL), move the fish out of Miami. As if these guys haven’t ruined the league enough! Mara’s father for example may have helped the league 100 years ago — but his son has been an absolute classless disgrace, just ask Daniel Snyder. I just wish the media did praise who their told to praise!
top 10 franchise why would they leave it would be a traveste
the “Not Free League” thinks everything should be their way from the Orioles allowing the Ravens to open on Thurs night to local governments rolling over and building or improving stadiums for the NFL’s financial gain!!!!!!
I am not sure why Miami thinks it shouldn’t help pay for the new stadium. Most cities do, and Miami has had the extra bonus of getting more Superbowls and other events. The City would then own the stadium, not the team.
In Seattle I think we pay like $7 for each extra night in a hotel room to pay for CLink Field.
40+ year Dolphins fan here.
#1 An owner who owns his own building is not going to walk away from it.
#2 Not even $1 of public money should be given to a privately owned stadium.
Stephen Ross is worth billions of dollars. Let him go to a bank and get a loan like the rest of us have to if we want to upgrade our place of business. The only reason he wants public money versus a bank loan is because he knows the bank will want its money. The public sector almost always loses money in these deals.
The Dolphins weren’t truly looking for a “handout.” They were asking for a 1% bed tax on area hotels. Considering how much money a Super Bowl brings in, that’s a targeted tax: the people who would pay it are the people who would most benefit.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Ross, but he HAS opened his books, IS willing to pay a large portion of the upgrade, and on top of that has indicated he’s joining several other billionaires in pledging to give the majority of his fortune away upon his death.
As questionable as some of his behavior has been (coach shopping before firing his coach), statements have been (“Henne is better than Marino!”), Ross is clearly a dedicated owner who really cares about making the team better.
But the bottom line, more than anything else, is the Florida politicians who stopped it from even getting a public vote. That’s flat out disgraceful.
San Antonio Dolphins, lets make it happen!
They can play in the Alamodome until Bexar County builds them a new stadium (which they certainly would do.)
I have noticed one thing … the heavy influence of corporate shill comments to these kinds of articles is light during off banking hours. The same shills who weighed in during banking hours during the labor contract dispute.
They must think we’re stupid. They can’t be bothered during tee time.
“What’s frustrating is that it didn’t get a chance to get to the voters.”–The Great Roger Goodell Himself Live And In Person
Interesting phrasing. “Get to the voters” doesn’t exactly mean the same thing as “let the voters decide”. As far as I’m concerned, the voters are screwed either way, either screwed out of the chance to vote “yes”–or screwed if they do vote “yes” for a project at a privately-owned stadium that ought to be paid for by the owner–or screwed if they vote “no” because that will be cited as an excuse to deny Miami the opportunity to host the Super Bowl.
If you,can’t pay for your own business why should anyone else have to help you?
A quick internet search reveals that Steve Ross owns 95% of Sunlife Stadium. 95%, with old Wayne Huizenga owning the remaining 5%. Ross needs to pay for his upgrades himself.
Say what you want about LiL Danny Snyder, but the guy owns the stadium his team plays in and you never hear of him, or the Skins organization, looking for tax payer handouts for upgrades. Snyder just chops out a couple thousand seats and jacks up prices on everything.
FedEx does suck though, but it is better than the alternative of either being in DC at the mercy of the joke that is the DC City Government, or moving to stadium in that armpit that is NoVA.
The NFL wont allow owners to pay for upgrades themselves.
I’d say we should let the people of Florida vote for it, except that’s how we ended up with George Bush as President.
Now do you see why Khan doesn’t want Tebow in Jacksonville? If the fans start supporting the team again, he won’t have a good argument for moving the team to Los Angeles, and Miami will get to go instead.
Right now he’s in the perfect position. He and his management team have made certain that the team will be as bad as possible into the next few years, and that the fans won’t support them. He should get first shot at the move to LA. The only thing standing in the way of it would be a sudden uptick in local fan support – so Tebow is a definite no-no for the franchise.
The Dolphins will never leave South Florida and move to L.A. because Florida has no state income tax and California has a 9.3% state income tax on any single person earning over $47,000 or a married couple with a combined income of over $93,000
The California state income tax is even higher for a person earning 1 Million Dollars or more a year. People are leaving California and moving to other states
No NFL owner would move their team under those circumstances.
It is all a bluff.
guys, enough with the ‘build it yourself’ crap. these improvements arent going to make Ross a boatload of money, like a brand new stadium does for its owners. plus Ross already is willing to pay more than 50% of the costs.. which is more than almost any other owner is willing to do towards new/improved venues. the other half would be paid by tourists, not local taxpayers. not doing this is a loss for South Florida. less SuperBowls equals less money being fed into our community.
Good let them move. I think the voters would have voted it down anyways but seriously this constant threatening to move bs gets old and I think people everywhere are fed up with it. Give us more money or we will move is all we ever hear from the nfl and its to the point of exhaustion. Pay for the upgrades themselves as a league, They make 10 billion in profits with projections of it going up to 20 billion over the next ten years so they certainly can afford it.
We as a nation need to stop having the tax payers pay for these sports stadiums.
When they sell the team do they pay us back?
We spend hundreds of millions to build stadiums for them and then even the season ticket holders get thrown out of their seats unless they pay an unreasonable PSL price.
Plus corporations who buy luxury boxes get a 50% tax right off and we get a $150 ticket to go see a game.
While I love the NFL we have to at some point tell them to pay for their own game.
The taxpayers get stuck with the tab and the billionaires become richer.
How about the other 31 owners pitch in for the stadium upgrades. Has Stephen Ross asked his rich buddies for a handout yet?
This a perfect example, why we should watch more college football games…. The NFL is all about the money, nothing else matters.
If the businesses and citizens of Miami want to benefit economically by hosting Superbowls, college national championship games, premier soccer league games, and other big events… LET THEM SHARE IN THE COST OF BRINGING THOSE EVENTS TO THEIR CITY.
They’ve paid almost entirely for TWO arena’s supporting the NBA Heat, one for MLB Marlins, and one for the NHL’s Panthers
But all of a sudden shouldering a third of the cost of UPGRADES (with that entire balance to be repaid by the team) to an existing stadium, for the area’s ORIGINAL and ONLY (for 30 years) professional sports franchise – which has:
- never received help for a stadium
- in fact built it’s own stadium
- AND paid the area government 4 million + dollars a year in property taxes for the last 25 years on it (the ONLY Florida professional team to pay property taxes btw)
In order to host those very economically beneficial events in their city is a bridge too far???
Ross will get his 1/32 of Superbowl profits no matter where the game is held. He’s not running a charity for the benefit of the greater Miami area, so they use it to build arena’s and give tax breaks (of which the Dolphins don’t even get) to basketball, baseball, and hockey franchises.
Dear Roger,
It’s time for the NFL to stop using taxpayer dollars as a personal piggy bank.
Most of the owners are among the richest people on the planet and can afford to pay their own way.
We have far too many issues as a society to continue funding an industry that doesn’t need outside assistance.
START PAYING YOUR OWN WAY !!!!!!!
The owners will never let an existing franchise move. The Browns sold for $1B.
That’s the going rate/starting price point for a NFL team. When the League does decide to expand LA will get a team. Along with Toronto. That’s at least $2B in NEW money owners would love to get their hands on.
San Antonio deserves a team but it should be Jacksonville.
Ultimately kicking the Marlins out of Dolphins Stadium is becoming the thorn they were inside the stadium. However if the owner didnt kick them out they could have had a chance at a new innovative field that never has infield dirt, and multi-game package deals to help sales
Put his heart & soul into this, but barely of his 4 billion worth.
Thank God the stadium got rejected.
Rog, his heart and soul includes his wallet. Don’t tell me its complicated, its simple. He, like the rest of the owners, want the city to pick up most of the tab. Then say, “You needs it for your community. It brings jobs, economic growth, and stability to the local economy!”. So do bakeries, coffee shops, grocery stores, clothing stores, and many others, but when did the city pony up cash to help their efforts. No, Ross should be responsible for a new house, to charge his renters money, normal tax payers could NEVER afford. Go somewhere with that nonsense.
It became clear during the lockout that owners did not want to disclose their revenues/profits (presumably because they were very healthy numbers for the most part).
That’s understandable but it is also understandable why taxpayers would be leery of subsidizing stadium upgrades for billionaires who are presumed to be profiting so much that they are unwilling to disclose in fact how lucrative their respective franchises are from year to year.
It’s unfair to the owners to demand transparency in that regard but that lack of transparency doesn’t win over taxpayers when it’s time for new stadiums/upgrades.
Yeah, the franchise should go to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City or Portland. Fans in Miami don’t deserve a team. The stands are mostly empty every single game.
Stephen M. Ross owns the stadium. Ross is not going to walk away.
People saying the 1% of the bed tax..well shouldn’t that 1% go to improving roads and infrastructure and not some rich guy that OWNS the stadium? Oh and please explain how the city businesses make millions…I am waiting. Most fans are from that city and would spend there no matter what and i doubt they spend that much considering game cost is expensive.
The stadium has little to do with getting superbowls (otherwise there wouldn’t be all the stupid extras like a zipline). A sellout is a sellout (not that Miami has had many lately) and the capacity doesn’t change unless temp seats are sold and then forgotten like in Dallas. The stadium has not been a major portion of the telecast either so unless the stadium is unsafe or completely run down it makes no difference. The SB is just a way for the league to blackmail a new stadium every couple years. Miami actually had one of the best potential deals but political corruption killed the deal before it could even get to the people or even their representatives.
It’s a little tricky, because the hotel tax is specific to Broward and Miami-Dade hotels. So, you can’t raise the taxes on hotels in the counties and use it for the state roads. Then you have the issue of….since the Broward and Miami-Dade hotels are the ones raising the tax..that commission has to vote and be on board to allow that tax to be implemented. You’d be hardpressed to find hotels which don’t yield any benefit from improving state infrastructure.
To those who keep defending the “tax payer”…the funds for the stadium specific prohibit the use of general tax revenue for the stadium. Any taxes not made up from the hotel revenue have to be made up by the Dolphins. You guys don’t pay state taxes, so I guess we are protecting the Florida State property tax revenue. Well, that is safe too and in fact the Dolphins pay 4 million a year in property taxes and will get more as the value of the stadium increases.
Another caveat…only 1 stadium in the NFL doesn’t use private funds and that stadium just so happens to have 2 owners that own it.
When was the last time the Super Bowl was in Philadelphia? If we’re basing on moving a football team because the owner isn’t cashing in on Super Bowls is kind of a spoiled brat not getting what he wants at a super market lol.
The 1% isn’t free money, it’s just money visitor won’t spend elsewhere in the area. If it is such a good deal for area businesses, Ross should convince hotel ownership groups, car rental agencies and restaurant owners groups to kick in the needed money.
By his logic they’ll make it all back and more.
Since the public doesn’t get to vote on how much money he makes, what he pays his staff and players and what he charges for concession stand items and seats, not one dollar of public money should go to the Dolphins.
If he wants to leave, so be it. It’s not like we’ve had a Superbowl win in the last 41 years.
When the school boards say they have too much funding, ole Steve can come talk to us again.
So the Teaparty mentality extends to sports. Every Dolphin fan should be anxious to upgrade the stadium anyway possible. The oner has agreed to pay 70 percent. Forget the Marlins; it’s apples and oranges!
Owner
If being against using taxpayer money to pay for millionaires and billionaires to play around, evokes a partisan political tirade?
This is supposed to be a free market yet people seem to think that the billionaires club needs subsidy from tax payers.
There is NO DIFFERENCE between Marlins and the Dolphins except that the Marlins won 2 World Championships in the past 20 years and the Dolphins won ZERO!
Ross now claims he was an. IDIOT and bought a team and stadium without proper up front investigation but NOW he’ll get it right?
If this was such a good deal, the businessmen would never cut government in on it. They only want our money when it’s for a losing proposition.
I guess this is not as simple as Ross opening up his wallet and paying for the improvements and along with improvements come Super Bowls and a venue for big shows all of which Miami – Dade and Broward county will benefit via the volume of tourists spending in their county. Over all the economy of both counties and the adjacent counties as well. So the politicians will get the benefit of being responsible for a great economy while Ross pays the way…I can see why Ross is looking for a partnership with the counties or the state. This would benefit everyone. Isn’t it a fact hat Ross was putting up 1/3 while the State puts up the other 2/3? Our politicians shouldn’t allow the experience of the Marlins to make judgement on this situation.
I think one of the misconceptions here is that the NFL asking for state funds or basically an interest free loan is something only the NFL does. Every city in the NFL makes these kinds of deals to businesses all of the time. It is how cities grow and cities encourage businesses to come to their city. The NFL is a high profile business so of course it is in the news, but please don’t believe that the NFL is the only business receiving your dollars. You look around and the HQ for XYZ company is in your backyard, please believe they aren’t just their for the sunshine and beaches. They receive a strategic/financial advantage for placing a business somewhere. It’s really a common occurence. This is done in exchange for jobs and contributing to the economy of the city by which the “benefits” are granted. If your city stopped giving “handouts” as we are calling it to businesses your city would have no business to speak of.
Let’s throw Super Bowls outside the window for a minute. Stadiums are built with particular lifecycles. Joe Robbie Stadium is approaching 30 years in its lifecycle which is typically the end for stadiums build these days without a major renovation. With or without a SB, that stadium needs to be refurbished or a new stadium built. To believe that out of 32 franchises…..Miami will be the only franchise under a single owner to pay 100% for a stadium themselves is being a bit naive.
Also, anyone who thinks the Marlins deal and the Dolphins deal are in anyway similar aside from both teams being in Florida has simple not read even a paragraph of either deal.
Let’s take this a step further….
Florida gets have of its State Revenue from it’s Sales Tax. So..pretty much everyone is a taxpayer in the State of Florida….of course those owning property having a heavier burden than the rest. So….that being said….if half of the state revenue is based on people coming into the state and spending money….isn’t the approach of not building a stadium that creates large influxes of people into the state a bit counter intuitive? I’m not a Florida resident…so this is a legimate question.
If half of your state’s revenue comes from people spending in your state, why would you not invest in projects that encourage state consumerism?
^^^ *have=half
The penalties in the deal aren’t worth the paper they were written on. If they don’t get all the promised events, they’ll just come back and renegotiate under a renewed threat of leaving.
Do you really think Ross is that stupid that he’ll put himself on the hook for millions on the promise of delivering things he had no control over?
Just because other cities have squandered their taxpayer trust, are we obligated to continue the madness?
There is some public benefit to having a sports franchise but there is much more private profit to owning one. Ask Mr Huizinga how many hundreds of millions he made through his ownership of the Dolphins.
If we follow the thinking expressed by supporters, we should be building Home Depots and Shopping Malls with tax money too.
Well, let’s look at this. SB50 would be guaranteed because the deal is off is we didn’t get SB50. That was written on the paper. No SB50, no deal. And in the deal, it is written that upon agreement that the Dolphins are tied to SoFla for 30 years. SoFla is also tied for the most SB with New Orleans so there is reasonable assumption that we’ll get the events that are required. SoFla also has a rotating deal with the NCAA that is pretty solid. Those are the main events with the most penalites. Arguing anything else is purely hyothetical based off of no kind of trend. Why would Miami not continue to be one of the most visited stadiums if a renovation were to occur? What is certain is what will happen if the stadium isn’t renovated.
Miami get lots of SBs because of the WEATHER! Each new stadium gets one and then it’s bidding wars for the rest.
The renovations have more to do with enhanced luxury boxes and more Dolphin revenue than anything else.
Find a public deal for a stadium that has not resulted in significant public loss and you will note the field covered with pink unicorns.
What is so crazy about wanting millionaires to fund their own business ventures?
Huizenga puts $160M into the Dolphins in 1994, 14 years later he gets $550M for half of the team, eventually divesting 95% of team/stadium and 50% of the adjoining lands for $1B total.
That’s roughly a 450% gain in 15 years!
Either Ross is an imbecile ( a highly debatable point given his handling of Tony Sporano) or NFL franchises are like a license to print money.
In either case there is no case, based on demonstrated competence or responsible stewardship ( his admitted failure to properly evaluate the condition of the stadium), for any public funds to be entrusted to him r his minions.
Jesus….it’s like a broken record. The money doesn’t come from the citizens of Florida. What is this public loss? It’s coming from a hotel tax…not general tax revenue. This is like trying to explain chemistry to a miniature pinscher.
Yeah….Ross tried to get rid of the incompetent Tony Sporano for a highly competent Harbaugh. What an idiot. Tony Sparano is coaching what now?
You must be. Jets fan. Nobody else could be that single minded.
The issue is not getting rid of Sporano, it was going behind his back, not closing the deal and ten having to pay him big for the upcoming year. If he was not happy with him, he should simply have fired him.
Back. The taxes, this is not free money. Take an Econ 101 course. Money doesn’t come from thin air and is fungible. The money paid by the tourists comes out of their discretionary spending and is really taken out of the hide of local businesses.
If we are going to pull money out of the economy for taxes, we should put it to true public purposes. Taxes would be better spent funding hospitality schools and non profit convention centers.
You don’t have to agree but at least try to follow the reasoning.
Jim Harbaugh, Jeff Fisher, Peyton Manning and Alex Smith, all courted by the Dolphins, all refused to come here.
I suspect that the inside NFL story is the low esteem in which the Dolphins are held.
i keep seeing these posts from so many of you out there that keep going on and on about how owners should foot the whole bill the county/city/state shouldn’t pay anything and all this welfare for billionaires stuff and i’m here to tell you that you just don’t get it! these billionaires with thier money generate jobs and tax revenue that bring in 10′s of millions in tax revenue or even more every year and all of you that are aginst the county/city /state chipping in are nothing short of misinformed concerning how this works. in business most would call it a worth while investment because of the proven money maker that the nfl is. i would bet everything that i own that none of you that are so aginst this would spend your own money to create revenue for someone else without them putting in one cent especially when there is millions/billions involved now would you?even if you did have it why go through all the effort jump through all the hoops put all your money out there so someone else can proffit?it just don’t make sense. so if i were ross i would be looking for another city that wants to meet him 30% of the way.
The NFL owners operate and pay many of their players millions of dollars because they make money. That is the reason businesses exist, to make money, not for some altruistic social purpose.
Just because someone derives economic benefit from your profit making enterprise, there is no justification for making them pay part of your operating costs or capital outlays. Sort of like asking Intel to help Microsoft improve their headquarters, or asking Amazon to help build a new UPS hub.
They sell the myth of the great benefits they bring as a good “investment” when in actuality, they are just tax giveaways.
I suggest you visit Bloomberg and read the numbers, $4B in tax breaks to the NFL nationwide.
Ask Detroit how their “investment” is working for them, or L.A. & Oakland how the Raiders have worked out for them. While you’re at it, ask Cleveland how they felt paying the mortgage on a $300M empty stadium. Consider how Arlington is serving their citizens with the $1.2B Cowboys stadium. Look at Arlington’s 2013 budget and ask yourself why they spend more on debt service than on Parks, roads and storm water combined.
On the contrary, it is the supporters of using taxes to fund private pleasure ventures who are grossly uninformed.