The Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam are spearheading a proposal for a new $2.4 billion stadium in Brook Park, banking on a significant public funding contribution. The Haslams, in a roundtable with local news outlets reported by Signal Cleveland, stated, “The time to do this is now.” They have proposed that the cost be split evenly between private and public sources, pitching for the state, Cuyahoga County, and Brook Park to issue $1.2 billion in bonds. The public funds would be repaid using revenues from the project, including taxes generated from the stadium and surrounding development.
Public officials are not all on board. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, who prefers renovating the current lakefront stadium, have criticized the plan. "The numbers don’t add up," Ronayne said in a statement obtained by Signal Cleveland. Albeit, the Haslams argue that the public portion of the funding would leverage only new incremental tax revenue produced by the stadium itself, per details from WKYC.
The Haslam Sports Group laid out specific sources for public funding in their proposal. They seek $600 million from the state and recommend that Brook Park contribute $422 million, largely through increased admission and parking taxes. Cuyahoga County's share would be $178 million, financed by an added 1% hotel bed tax and a new rental car surcharge. Despite their assertions that these new taxes would generate significant income, skepticism remains about the potential fiscal impact on taxpayers and the risk of issuing bonds.
Jimmy Haslam highlighted the non-reliance on current taxpayer dollars for the project in an interview with Cleveland19. “There’s not one penny of existing taxes coming out of the county, the city, Brook Park, or the state’s budget, that would be directed toward this project," Haslam said. However, County Executive Ronayne warned of unvetted financing means, telling Cleveland19, "Something like the car rental tax fee which hasn’t been vetted by our Cuyahoga County residents or by the state of Ohio."
Beyond fiscal concerns, the Haslams project significant economic benefits. Developments accompanying the stadium include hotels, apartments, retail, and event spaces, expected to produce $1.3 billion in additional state revenue over 30 years. Still, uncertainties loom regarding the viability of the revenue streams required to service the debt from proposed bonds, especially in the wake of past shortfalls in tax revenues allocated for stadium costs in the region.
