CHICAGO - The Milwaukee Common Council is expected to consider on Sept. 22 the use of $47 million in public funds to help finance a new $500 million arena for National Basketball Association's Milwaukee Bucks.
The proposal backed by Mayor Tom Barrett cleared the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee in a 4-1 vote on Sept. 15 and the Finance and Personnel Committee recommended approval at a meeting Sept. 16.
The city's contribution includes $35 million to develop a parking structure and $12 million to convert existing space into a public plaza. The city's contribution would come from tax-increment financing and some borrowing is expected. The interest for the TIF debt is about $17 million, according to the city comptroller's office.
Comptroller Martin Matson said projections show the TIF district generating sufficient revenue to repay any borrowing.
The public's share of the project cost is $250 million with the remainder coming from the team's current owners and its former owner, former Sen. Herb Kohl. Gov. Scott Walker signed legislation that lays out the financing package over the summer.
In addition to the city support, the Wisconsin Center District would borrow about $200 million leveraging future collections of taxes it now collects on hotel rooms, local food and beverages, and car rentals to repay $185 million of convention center debt.
Preliminary financing plans assume that $93 million of proceeds would be available from the tax streams which generated $29 million last year. The state will also provide an annual appropriation of $8 million, with half coming from Milwaukee County, which combined could be leveraged to support an estimated $110 million of proceeds.
Initially the team wanted the arena open in 2017, but it may not occur until the fall of 2018, according to published reports.
