deluca67 Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Posted February 21, 2011 What? Erie County is paying most of he bill on $2.8 mil in renovations at Ralph Wilson Stadium?
Weave Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 I seem to recall reading somewhere that the playing field at RWS is among the worst in the league.
darksabre Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 Erie County is paying most of he bill on $2.8 mil in renovations at Ralph Wilson Stadium? Oh, you're surprised. I see.
deluca67 Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Posted February 21, 2011 I seem to recall reading somewhere that the playing field at RWS is among the worst in the league. The Bills already get a $5 mil welfare check from the tax payers. Why is this acceptable?
Weave Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 The Bills already get a $5 mil welfare check from the tax payers. Why is this acceptable? I was just making an observation, not a judgement on whether it is acceptable or not. I don't live in Erie County so I don't really have a dog in that particular race. Having said that, I do not support taxpayer funding of building and maintaining properties used by private corporations. Yes, that includes sports teams. All of them.
kwalk Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 Erie County is paying most of he bill on $2.8 mil in renovations at Ralph Wilson Stadium? EC has been paying for the repairs since the inception.. It has always been that way.
deluca67 Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Posted February 21, 2011 I was just making an observation, not a judgement on whether it is acceptable or not. I don't live in Erie County so I don't really have a dog in that particular race. Having said that, I do not support taxpayer funding of building and maintaining properties used by private corporations. Yes, that includes sports teams. All of them. Any so called "representative of the people" that allows this to happen should step down. The Bills make all the money they need from the TV contracts. It covers all of their expenses. Why are they allowed to suck the life of this area's tax payers?
Weave Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 Any so called "representative of the people" that allows this to happen should step down. The Bills make all the money they need from the TV contracts. It covers all of their expenses. Why are they allowed to suck the life of this area's tax payers? Because it is political suicide to be the "representative of the people" in office when the Bills leave town because they stadium they play in isn't up to standards. Look to your fellow EC residents for the reason it is acceptable. I don't agree with it either but that is the way it is.
dumb_dumb88 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 Any so called "representative of the people" that allows this to happen should step down. The Bills make all the money they need from the TV contracts. It covers all of their expenses. Why are they allowed to suck the life of this area's tax payers? Well, we could just ask them to leave, I hear Toronto is interested in hosting an NFL team on a permanent basis :rolleyes:
deluca67 Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Posted February 21, 2011 Because it is political suicide to be the "representative of the people" in office when the Bills leave town because they stadium they play in isn't up to standards. Look to your fellow EC residents for the reason it is acceptable. I don't agree with it either but that is the way it is. I know what you mean. It just sickens me to see the Bills suck money from this tax base. They make enough money as it is.
deluca67 Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Posted February 21, 2011 Well, we could just ask them to leave, I hear Toronto is interested in hosting an NFL team on a permanent basis :rolleyes: Considering the disaster the series in Toronto has been I really doubt that. If it means the Bills will leave if they are not allowed to continually suck the life out of the Erie County tax base? Then let them go.
beerme1 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 I think that when all is said and done and the county has calculated all of its sales tax revenue from all things Bills that the they still make out and can happily agree to this annual dole out until the team moves.
Weave Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 I think that when all is said and done and the county has calculated all of its sales tax revenue from all things Bills that the they still make out and can happily agree to this annual dole out until the team moves. I still lived in EC when the last big round of renovations was done at RWS ($25M IIRC). I really wanted to see some data that showed how much finacial benefit that the county got from the Bills. It would be interesting to see how much (or how little) benefit the county really gets out of that team. One thing you have to consider is, the vast majority of the revenue generated by the county courtesy of the Bills existance is because local residents are spending money on the Bills. I think it is a pretty safe bet that if the Bills ceased to exist that the people would still spend that money locally, but on something other than the local football team. So tax revenue statements probably overstate the value the Bills have to the county coffers.
beerme1 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 I think it is a pretty safe bet that if the Bills ceased to exist that the people would still spend that money locally, but on something other than the local football team. So tax revenue statements probably overstate the value the Bills have to the county coffers. I disagree. Do you really think that we people of erie county will buy 100,000 pajama's, jerseys, gloves, scarves, hats, caps, car mats, coats, license plates, tickets, beers, and so many other things Bills related? Every year? The county will not gain sales tax from us if the Bills leave and it will not remain constant. My argument is that given the vast amount of needless mindless Bills related crap that we all buy the county would not. Simply because we wouldn't buy all that needless crap. well, we'd still buy beers but even there, not as many. They get sales tax money that they only get because of teh Bills and I believe it is a huge amount personally. Additionaly i dont want to live here with the team being here but if they go i and many others and business also will follow suit and leave. I don't believe in corporate welfare as a rule but I believe whole heartedly that in this case it is entirely different. Because I am a Bills fan lol :death:
Weave Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 I disagree. Do you really think that we people of erie county will buy 100,000 pajama's, jerseys, gloves, scarves, hats, caps, car mats, coats, license plates, tickets, beers, and so many other things Bills related? Every year? The county will not gain sales tax from us if the Bills leave and it will not remain constant. My argument is that given the vast amount of needless mindless Bills related crap that we all buy the county would not. Simply because we wouldn't buy all that needless crap. well, we'd still buy beers but even there, not as many. They get sales tax money that they only get because of teh Bills and I believe it is a huge amount personally. Additionaly i dont want to live here with the team being here but if they go i and many others and business also will follow suit and leave. I don't believe in corporate welfare as a rule but I believe whole heartedly that in this case it is entirely different. Because I am a Bills fan lol :death: For most people in the demographic that the Bills serve, disposable income is almost fully spent. If the Bills go elsewhere, the disposable income gets spent somewhere else. Businesses that depend on the Bills will suffer but there will be many others that will benefit from the redistribution of disposable income. It might not be a wash but it certainly won't be an economic catastrophe.
Eleven Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 The county owns the stadium...is it really that odd for the landlord to make capital repairs?
Realist Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 Erie County has been making these repairs since the Bills have been there. This year the major portion of the repairs is going to be the turf. Not sure what the problem is.
87168 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 Well, we could just ask them to leave, I hear Toronto is interested in hosting an NFL team on a permanent basis :rolleyes: I highly doubt that. I know that mayor of toronto has been interested in some time in relocating an NFL team to his city but canada doesn't have the market for an NFL team. The toronto series has shown that. They literally were giving tickets away and NONE of the games were even close to selling out. NFL just isnt their thing up north.
Drunkard Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 The county owns the stadium...is it really that odd for the landlord to make capital repairs? Exactly. Whether you agree with it or not that was how the deal was negotiated when the contract was agreed upon. I also don't think a state or county government should be chipping in to help pay for a business that already rakes in tons of money but the county probably gets the better of the deal. While a significant portion of the money spent on the Bills and Bills merchandise may be from Erie County residents and would stay in the county you can't discount the tourism dollars from people that travel from other states, other counties, and Canada to attend Bills games. I'm sure Niagara county would happily chip in a few million per year for stadium upkeep for all that additional tax revenue and the additional jobs, even if they only exist for a few days each year.
JoDo Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 Forgive me for needing to be educated here. Does the county own the stadium and the Bills' organization leases from them?
Eleven Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 Forgive me for needing to be educated here. Does the county own the stadium and the Bills' organization leases from them? Yes.
MattPie Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 I highly doubt that. I know that mayor of toronto has been interested in some time in relocating an NFL team to his city but canada doesn't have the market for an NFL team. The toronto series has shown that. They literally were giving tickets away and NONE of the games were even close to selling out. NFL just isnt their thing up north. They have he much more entertaining CFL up there.
deluca67 Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Posted February 22, 2011 The county owns the stadium...is it really that odd for the landlord to make capital repairs? Any idea how much the Bills "pay" in rent each year? Who pays for all the traffic control outside of the stadium? Does Erie County get any of the parking revenue? Is this $2.8 million taken out of the welfare check the Bills already receive or is it in addition to? Shouldn't any payments to the Bills be put to a County wide referendum, every year?
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.