PhillyInc

NLC - Education was a bad example maybe - I'm just bitter that I pay $5K/year in school taxes and I dont have kids to send there. ha. no way should they raise taxes for schools, its getting out of hand.

the more important point i was trying to make is that there are many benefits to building a stadium and bringing in a franchise to a community that is, to be blunt, a complete mess right now.

If the Gov really wanted to help Chester, then take the $30 mill and use it to fund a business tax reduction for companies in Chester. Make it possible for the business to make money there and they will move there. Once there, jobs follow and things will turn around.

But this gov does not get it. He wants to spend money not cut taxes. he also likes to take donations from his buddies. Why is it that in the last 5 years by every measure nothing has changed in this state? Could it be the Gov is just window dressing as he did for 8 years in philly, leaving the real issues to his successor?

The proposed soccer stadium in Chester is only one part of a larger private investment scheme including condos, retail space and entertainment facilities. The soccer stadium will be used to draw crowds into this area and to stimulate growth. The state funds will go mainly to improve the infrastructure around the stadium including roads, and not for the stadium itself. The private investors are preparing to spend approximately $300 to 400 million of their own money towards the stadium and other projects in Chester. In essence the state is spending $60 million to insure a larger private investment of over $300 million in a depressed area of the state. That's good business and is a bargain for the state and the people of Chester.

In my humble opinion, government subsidy and government dollars should be spent where there is a market deficiency. Obviously large investors can foot the bill for this on their own.

As for MAK's comment, I find it hard to believe that you can see the community-wide benefits of a sports complex, but not the community-wide benefits of education. An educated public produces more, advances more, and in turn, increases the tax base so you can have lower taxes.

Let the corporate investors come up with the money. My tax dollars would do a lot more good in other places. And though I love to play sports and am a so-so fan of profesional teams, I can't even afford to take my family to a game. Or, use my tax dollars, but give me one set of tickets per season so my kids can see a baseball game.

While purely "monetary" economic benefits may not be realized when stadiums are built, there are many other benefits to these communities is which they sit. In DC, I know that there is a ton of investment dollars coming into a pretty bad SE neighborhood as the baseball stadium is being built, where old buildings are being replaced by businesses and nicer residences. Also, community programs are funded (such as urban little league baseball), and reap the benefits of corporate investments and other community service organizations' efforts. AND, sometimes you can't put a price on how neighborhoods are cleaned up, crime drops, and pthat eople generally like spending time in that area where they once would never even think about passing through. These things matter, and since the community, city, town, etc. ultimately benefits, I don't think its too absurd to investigate public funding for these stadiums.

Actually, being an avid sports fan, I'd much rather some of my tax dollars go to positive development programs and things I will take advantage of and enjoy versus more governmental programs, say education-related perhaps (I have no children to send to school), or other "social welfare" programs that I will never experience.