Lawmakers in the state Senate advanced a pared down version of a bill to fund stadium improvements for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the modifications weren’t enough to change the mind of the plan’s chief critic: Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.
Rep. Jeff Weninger’s House Bill 2704 would allow the Maricopa County stadium district that owns Chase Field to capture sales tax at the stadium to fund improvements. The Diamondbacks have publicly estimated Chase Field needs around $500 million to upgrade plumbing, air conditioning and other parts of the stadium.
He said the deal is needed to facilitate a new lease agreement between the team and stadium district to prevent the team from leaving when the current lease expires in 2027.
“It's very tough to negotiate a lease if you're going to continue to have a dilapidated building and facility that makes it tough to play in,” Weninger said.
The Senate Finance Committee passed the bill on a 4-3 bipartisan vote after Chairman J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) made substantial changes, including removing a provision that would allow income tax levied against Diamondbacks' players to be used for improvements at Chase Field.
But Gallego told lawmakers the bill still puts too much of the financial burden on the city. In a letter to Gov. Katie Hobbs last week, Gallego estimated the bill would siphon as much as $720 million in sales tax from the city, Maricopa County and state over the 30-year period covered by the legislation.
Maricopa County is also opposed to the bill after Mesnard added language requiring the county’s contributions to equal the amount provided by the city.
“Our understanding is that this is an attempt to create parity between city of Phoenix and Maricopa County to ensure Maricopa County has equal ‘skin in the game,’” Assistant County Manager Zach Schira wrote to lawmakers.
But he noted Maricopa County has no general sales tax, unlike the city and state.
“Any attempt to create parity is a direct hit to the taxpayers of Maricopa County,” Schira wrote.
Gallego unsuccessfully lobbied lawmakers to cap total public contributions at about $15 million per year — the original estimated impact put forward by legislative budget analysts.
“The Legislature has a budget committee and they put out an original estimate, which at the time the Diamondbacks seemed favorable to,” she said. “I believe government participation should be capped at that estimate.”
Gallego also sought to ensure public money was only spent on infrastructure while the team would pay for extra items, like luxury boxes – which mirrors the deal the city signed with the Phoenix Suns to upgrade that team’s arena, which the city does own, in 2019.
Mesnard did add a cap to the bill that would limit the public contribution to stadium improvements to $500 million with adjustments for inflation.
Gallego argued Mesnard’s cap wasn’t much of a cap at all, because of those adjustments.
“The amendment caps public funding at a billion dollars over the time period and it does not require the Diamondbacks to pay any money into it,” she said.
Supporters pointed out that the team invested $200 million in the stadium over the past three decades, even though it, like the city, doesn’t own the stadium. And they suggested the city would be in worse shape if the team leaves altogether — though some economists question whether public funding for professional sporting facilities is a net positive for taxpayers.
“I think the question is are we going to upkeep a public asset … if they leave, you lose all this revenue that you're talking about,” Weninger said.
Supporters also cited the approximately $100 million the team estimates it has given to charitable organizations like the Boys and Girls Club over as proof of its commitment to the city.
“The Arizona Diamondbacks are a community asset,” former player Luis Gonzalez, now an executive with the team, told lawmakers. “As long as we've called Arizona and Chase Field home, we have received support and love generously from the community, as we have returned it in droves.”
But Gallego said nothing in the bill requires the team to make good on public promises to match the public contribution by paying for half the cost for improvements, or about $250 million.
“I want the Diamondbacks to stay in downtown Phoenix. I want them to succeed,” Gallego said. “They should match every dollar of public money with private money. They should be required to make contributions every year.”
Ultimately, the version of the bill approved by lawmakers carries no such requirement.
As it has moved through the legislature, the bill has created strange bedfellows with far-right Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-Gilbert) joining Democratic Sens. Brian Fernandez (D-Yuma) and Mitzi Epstein (D-Tempe) and Fernandez in voting against the measure.
Fernandez unsuccessfully sought to amend the bill to cap Phoenix’s contribution at $100 million and the overall public dollars going into the project at $350 million.
But the bill passed anyway with the support of the rest of the committee’s Republicans and Sen. Flavio Bravo (D-Phoenix).
It still must pass a full vote in the Arizona Senate to make it to Hobbs’ desk, and the governor has not yet publicly taken a side.
“I support a solution that keeps Major League Baseball and the Diamondbacks here in Arizona, and I am really hopeful that the points of disagreement between the city, the county and the state can get worked out so that we can get a deal done,” Hobbs said last month.
A spokesman for Hobbs said the governor has no further comment on the bill right now and declined to comment on Gallego’s letter.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to clarify the timeframe of the team’s investment.
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