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April 2, 2007
Taxpayers last to benefit from stadiums
AP, via BusinessWeek.com
WASHINGTON
Taxpayers don't benefit from multimillion-dollar publicly subsidized professional sports stadiums, residents from New York, Detroit and Seattle told lawmakers at hearing Thursday.
...
Just last year, the Internal Revenue Service revamped regulations that give stadium developers easier access to tax-exempt financing. But lawmakers continue to get complaints that stadiums built or upgraded with tax-free financing make economic conditions better not worse.The hearing was one in a series focused on the state of urban America. A week earlier, the panel had focused on rising foreclosures on mortgages issued to borrowers with high-risk credit.
Joyce Hogi, a south Bronx widow, detailed conditions in four apartment buildings 100 feet away from four parking garages built for Yankee Stadium.
"The process ... had no standards and was arbitrary and capricious," Hogi said. She blamed stadium owner "greed" for the presence of professional sports team making life worse for people who live nearby.
Some lawmakers defended the IRS' move last year.
Posted by lumi at April 2, 2007 7:42 AM