Baseball's back! So how will taxpayers be asked to keep the Brew Crew?

Now that we know there will be a baseball season, that means we can start talking about the Brew Crew again. Can't say I'm feeling Hot Stove League talk on a 20-degree day in March, and it feels like a long time since this happened (ahead of getting run out in a playoff series I've already put out of my memeory).

But a discussion of how to fix up Miller Park AmFam Field in the future? I'm down for that! And Tom Daykin had a very good, in-depth article in the Journal-Sentinel going over various plans that might be suggested by the Brewers to fund future capital improvements at the ballpark, after the Miller Park tax went away in early 2020.

The stadium district board, in its unanimous vote to drop the tax, relied on a report reviewing future improvements from Minneapolis-based construction firm M.A. Mortenson Co.

The Mortenson report said the district's cost estimates for future projects were reasonable, and would be covered by an $87 million reserve fund created with stadium sales tax revenue and payments by the Brewers.

But as Daykin mentioned last month, the Brewers' lease with the stadium district has a "keeping up with the Joneses" clause that requires the ballpark to be "within the 'top' twenty-five percent (25%) of all such facilities", so you know the team is going to be asking for more than the basics.

Daykin's March article mentions that the Brewers are going to do their own study on AmFam Field's needs, which we will likely hear about some time in the coming months.

It will likely list projects beyond what the Mortenson report considered, with those cost estimates exceeding the reserve fund.

That will be the basis for the baseball club's expected funding request.

Daykin's article also mentions how some other MLB teams got their communities to pay for their planned upgrades and upkeep at their slightly older ballparks.

In Cleveland, the Guardians baseball club (previously the Cleveland Indians) is extending its lease of Progressive Field for at least 15 years as part of a $435 million agreement unveiled in August.

The city is paying $117 million, with $138 million from Cuyahoga County, and the state of Ohio providing $30 million. The club is paying $150 million, according to Cleveland.com....

...the Maryland Stadium Authority is seeking state legislative approval to borrow up to $1.2 billion to pay for upgrades at stadiums for the Baltimore Orioles baseball club and the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, according to the Baltimore Sun.

"The legislation would gradually increase the amount of state lottery proceeds that can be used to pay debt service on the bonds — from $20 million to up to $90 million per year. The legislation would require the teams to sign a lease long enough to pay off the bonds," the newspaper reported in February....

Finally, in Phoenix, state legislation signed in April by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey allows a new "theme park district" to sell low-interest municipal bonds to raise $500 million for improvements at Chase Field, home to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

That bond debt is to be paid off through a 9% sales tax on game tickets, hotdogs, beer, team merchandise and other items sold within the district, which would encompass the ballpark, according to azcentral.com, the Arizona Republic's website.

That Arizona plan seems to be the best way to do it for Milwaukee. Have those who go to AmFam Field (or whatever it'll be known as in 20 years) pay the sales tax on purchases and parking in the area, although 9% extra seems a bit steep.

To borrow from Dan Shafer, let's call it "The Beer District", and perhaps add on to it by putting a smaller sales tax on items sold within a few blocks around there, in particular the nearby Brewers bars that get a whole lot of business from Brewers game days. (I love ya, Steve's/Magoo's. But the Crew is the only reason we go there).

I'll also note that the funding package for the FiServ Forum (as outlined in this LFB rundown from 2015) collects some funds from users of the new facility, although it also includes state and local tax dollars as well.

FiServ Forum funding
$93 million from Wis Center District (plus interest from debt)
$47 million from City of Milwaukee (TIF/land/improvements)
$80 million reduced from County shared revenue over 20 years and sent by State.
$80 million straight cash from the State over 20 years.
$2/ticket tax to Wis Center District to pay for part of the $93 million.

I can't see any candidate for state office openly backing state subsidies for the Brewers' stadium before the November 2022 elections. But you can bet the team will try to start bringing it up with the 2023 session, and will be picking up the pressure as the 2020s go on, as the team's original lease with the Stadium Board ends in 2030.

Which means that AmFam Field will be the subject of games that go beyond what the Crew's players do on the field this Summer, and in the coming years. Yes, that's a strained pun, but it's definitely worth staying aware of, and we should be ready to aski real questions of both the team and state politicians as to whether we need to keep subsidizing a successful Brewers team, and if so, what form that should take.