3) Some of the decisions that have previously been made by Atlanta are not good precedents for going

As a state legislator in tough economic times, I get the difficult job of telling people no. When the Department of Natural Resources officers who have seen department cuts of 25% and are overworked and underpaid florence ky pet friendly hotels come to me on the ropes at the House, I say the budget is tight. When the GBI agents who underpaid compared to their peers look me in the eye and tell me they are spending money to train new recruits only to have them leave for higher paying jobs, I say the budget is tight. When teachers tell me that they are furloughed several days a year, have more kids in their classes, and pay much higher insurance rates, I say the budget florence ky pet friendly hotels is tight. When the Governor gets behind proven jail diversion programs that reduce re-arrest rate for non-violent drug offenders and juvenile delinquents, we cannot find the money to do it statewide. Like Godzilla in Tokyo, florence ky pet friendly hotels we have a Medicaid Monster that is eating and shredding the state budget, even without including the siren song expansion offered florence ky pet friendly hotels by Obamacare. In this environment, here now come the Falcons and World Congress florence ky pet friendly hotels Center seeking taxpayer contributions for a retractable roof stadium.
First let me confess I am a huge football fan, growing up in Tuscaloosa in the national championship heydays of the 70's and Bear Bryant. My middle son has a Matt Ryan Fathead in his room and I have supported the Falcons from the decades of mediocrity to the current glory days of the Smith/Dimitroff/Ryan era. Personally I would love to go to football games under the open roof on a glorious crisp October day in Atlanta.
I also acknowledge some of the "pro" arguments are reasonable. We are in a historically low interest rate cycle and construction costs are still depressed, florence ky pet friendly hotels thus starting soon may save significant project dollars. Having the state of the art stadium of the Southeast certainly would not hurt for luring events to Atlanta. If tax money is to be used, a hotel motel tax is the best choice as a large share is paid by out of state visitors.
All of that being said, a $1 billion stadium with at least $300 million of taxpayer money is not a good idea anytime soon. Taxpayer florence ky pet friendly hotels investments in stadia almost never are repaid, and estimates of their impacts are overblown florence ky pet friendly hotels and ignore florence ky pet friendly hotels alternative uses of entertainment dollars that would stay in the economy. Dr. Benjamin Flowers, a Georgia Tech professor and expert on stadium financing, testified with me in a recent public forum that almost all academic studies bear this out. He also pointed out that the biggest impact of new stadium for a NFL team is to increase the franchise net worth and the revenue dollars per attending florence ky pet friendly hotels person. That is all nice and good but is not the taxpayers florence ky pet friendly hotels business.
Let us not forget also we have a great facility in the Georgia Dome that is only 20 years old. It attracts every level of sporting event, including the SEC Championship game, Chik-fil-A bowl, and Final Four basketball. The only major suitor we seem to be missing is the Super Bowl, and that is hardly a reason to spend such a huge amount of money in brutal budget times. florence ky pet friendly hotels The Georgia Dome is not even paid for yet, and had a $300 million renovation only six years ago. Here is a good analogy for throwing florence ky pet friendly hotels away the Dome and building florence ky pet friendly hotels a new stadium now. Imagine a guy who got laid off from his corporate florence ky pet friendly hotels desk job and is now working part time at Target and is struggling with basic expenses. He decides that is the time to trade in his perfectly running 2006 Acura and buy a new 2013 Mercedes.
Some of the details are important to understand where we go from here. Before I joined the House, florence ky pet friendly hotels the Legislature authorized the Atlanta City Council to use up to $300 million of hotel/motel tax for this project. florence ky pet friendly hotels The World Congress Center Authority currently has a borrowing limit of $200 million and wants to expand it, and there are important issues of whether those bonds would be backed by state taxpayers. There are also related road projects and an almost certain sales tax exemption on construction materials. Even with all of that, the only decision likely to come through the legislature next year is a borrowing limit change because the other items are already in statute. It may end up that the only option next year for those of us concerned about this project will be to insist on no further state taxpayer commitment either with bonds, credits, or budget items. We must wait and see a proposed deal and make a call on those details.
I am passionate about making the "no" argument because I think in many ways it goes to the trust problem between the citizens and all levels of government. It is very difficult to justify to our citizen who is under enormous economic pressure himself that there is no money for his kids teacher, none to widen the nightmare two lane road he commutes on, none to fund a drug court to keep his young adult son out of jail for a first offense, but we can help fund a $1 billion stadium florence ky pet friendly hotels which primarily benefits a very lucrative business. In fact we tell the voter we are so broke he should have voted for a 1% sales tax for roads and his property taxes are probably going up. This kind of contrast makes people perceive that their tax money is not being used wisely and the the system is "rigged." I don't need to tell you that perception is reality in politics, and as the majority party in the state we Republicans need to be sensitive to this.
Polls done by Atlanta TV stations show between 65-75% of the public opposed to this plan. We should drop the new stadium and revisit much later down the road. If this happened, the Legislature could enable Atlanta to spend the hotel motel tax on other infrastructure projects that are badly needed or to relieve other taxes. If the project does move forward, at at absolute minimum the state should not back any bonds or offer any tax money or incentives beyond the previously committed hotel tax. Georgia needs to show that we are not Washington DC, and we have the guts to make tough decisions and say no to "nice to have" spending.
We should drop the new stadium and revisit florence ky pet friendly hotels much later down the road. If this happened, the Legislature could enable Atlanta to spend the hotel motel tax on other infrastructure projects that are badly needed
Will the legislature dictate which infrastructure projects are badly needed? That is a real issue. Will the city be able to spend this money on what its elected leaders think is best, or what the legislature which is quite different from whom the city elected thinks is best? If the answer is the latter, then what makes the Georgia legislature any different or any better than the folks in Washington D.C.?
2) For many reasons, the hotel motel tax will not continue to be a gold mine. The hotels are getting older and less competitive, and will not be replaced. Other cities have presented themselves as alternatives.
3) Some of the decisions that have previously been made by Atlanta are not good precedents for going forward. The new airport international terminal is one example. Talk to anyone who has to arrive or transfer through it. Delta has already florence ky pet friendly hotels shifted quite a bit of international traffic out of Atlanta ask yourself why.
That is exactly florence ky pet friendly hotels what I am talking about. florence ky pet friendly hotels First off, let s quit pretending as if $15 million a year for 20 years will do squat for education. That is the budget for a single high school. You stated street repairs. Others have stated sewers. Sorry, but street repairs and sewers florence ky pet friendly hotels don t attract florence ky pet friendly hotels urbanites. They don t get urbanites to choose one city over another. Public schools don t either. Things like transportation, nightlife, arts/culture do. Those are the things that causes a person who wants to live in downtown because he likes living in downtown to choose one downtown over another. The educated, high income types that currently live in places like Los Angeles and New York and are increasingly going to Charlotte and Dallas are the ones that Atlanta is after.
And that is why I said Atlanta s elected leaders. Urban types, people who choose to live in cities, have a different mindset from suburbanites. florence ky pet friendly hotels Atlanta can have the best roads and sewers in the country, have the garbage picked on time, and do all the other nuts and bolts of governance on a 5 star level and it won t cause a single software company to move here. (And it also won t cause more suburbanites like you to be more likely to move here either, because no matter how well run Atlanta is, the cultural/demographic divide that keeps the suburbs suburban and the urban areas urban will still be in place.) Meanwhile, average roads, sewers, services etc. combined with great public transportation, parks, cultural events, nightlife etc. will attract tons of software companies (and lots of other companies, entrepreneurs and movers and shakers) because that s what people who like and want to live in cities are into. Not lower taxes. Not government agencies run on corporate type efficiency florence ky pet friendly hotels standards.
And as far as 2) For many reasons, the hotel motel tax will not continue to be a gold mine. The hotels florence ky pet friendly hotels are getting older and less competitive, and will not be replaced. Other cities have presented themselves as alternatives why does this apply to the hotels but not the Georgia Dome? See, that is precisely my point. Whether it is this stadium or MARTA or the Beltline, Atlanta has to be able to do things to make it competitive florence ky pet friendly hotels with other cities. Not things florence ky pet friendly hotels designed to make the conservative Republican suburbs say nice things about its Democratic leadership. Having the folks in Cobb and Gwinnett talk about what a great job Atlanta city government is doing according florence ky pet friendly hotels to standards set by Cobb and Gwinnett isn t going to do a thing for the city.
Huh? This will be paid by Atlanta tax revenue. The suburbanites won t have to contribute a single rusty nickel. The T-SPLOST stuff doesn t apply here. (By the way how s Plan B coming along? Just like I thought )
PS. If you think the state is genuinely at risk by upping the bonding limit at GWCCA to partial