Yanks' farm club owes big dollars on payments, fees

The Staten Island Yankees have won three league championships.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Staten Island Yankees owe the city more than half a million dollars for electricity, water and sewer payments on their stadium, plus late fees on bills that have piled up, according to an audit by City Comptroller William Thompson.
The team, which won its third New York-Penn League championship last season, is the Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees, whose value was recently estimated at $1.026 billion by Forbes magazine. Plans are under way to build the parent Yankees a new $800 million stadium in their home borough, the Bronx.
Members of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner's family own 49 percent of the Staten Island team, whose 20-year lease on the 6,800-seat stadium began in 2001. However, the team is not operated by the Yankees nor Steinbrenner's family.
The terms require the team to pay annual base rent of at least $100,000 if their attendance hits 125,000. The amount goes up to a maximum $510,000 if attendance exceeds 245,000. If attendance is at or below 125,000, the team pays utilities and other expenses but no rent. The city has a similar arrangement with the Brooklyn Cyclones, a Mets' farm club.
The Staten Island team has reported attendance below the 125,000 mark every year since 2001, the audit says. The audit found "weaknesses" in the team's attendance counting and reporting methods. For example, on some game days auditors found that tickets were not counted at each of the stadium's turnstiles.
No accusations
Thompson spokesman Jeff Simmons said the audit does not suggest that the team is cooking its books to avoid paying rent, but said Thompson is troubled the team hasn't worked to solve the problems, many of which were discovered during a 2003 audit.
"Nobody wants to accuse them of intentionally underreporting attendance, but one would think they would want to show they are doing everything by the book," Simmons said.
Josh Getzler, the team's chief operating officer, said the organization has been in contact with the comptroller about the report, and is "working to make sure that the money is paid in the very, very near future."
Getzler declined to comment on possible financial help for the farm team from its wealthy parent in the Bronx. He said the attendance discrepancies could be resolved by switching to wireless ticket scanners at the gates this season, which begins on June 21.
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