Cleveland sports venues await sin-tax proposal
AssociatedPress
CLEVELAND
County officials in Northeast Ohio are still deciding how to split a sin tax among stadiums and arenas of Cleveland sports teams.
Board members of the Gateway Economic Development Corp. — which owns the two facilities that house the Cleveland Indians and Cavaliers — said they haven’t heard from Cuyahoga County about how the money will be divided, the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported.
County voters last May approved a 20-year extension of the sin tax on cigarettes and alcohol that’s projected to raise $26 million a year. The money helps pay for maintenance at Progressive Field, home of the Indians; Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cavaliers; and FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the Browns.
A sin-tax proposal is in the works and remains an ongoing discussion, said Matt Carroll, an assistant to County Executive Armond Budish.
The county will begin collecting the tax in July.
Former County Executive and gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald, pointing out the long title drought among Cleveland’s professional franchises, had suggested divvying up the maintenance money for the professional sports venues based on the teams’ performance, but the plan failed to gain much support.
The Cavaliers have already moved forward on updates at Quicken Loans Arena ahead of the sin tax collections, the media group reported. The team paid for a new $9.6 million scoreboard and will apply to be reimbursed by sin tax revenues later.