49ers' Stadium Subsidy: A promise is a promise

Dear Santa Clarans,


The promise: The General Fund of the City of Santa Clara will take NO hits - directly or indirectly - due to the 49ers' stadium subsidy.

This evening in Chambers, "stadium boosters" - on the City Council and off - become very uncomfortable addressing that broken promise, but it's still an inconvenient fact:

• We can't subsidize the San Francisco 49ers with $21 million in bonds paid off with tax increment - unless we extend the time limit of the Redevelopment Agency.

• That extension, or SB 211 amendment, utterly reduces the passthroughs payable to our City's General Fund. We lose a nominal $19.5 million over time.
  

There's not enough money to pay our city employees what we paid them a year ago, so they are foregoing this year's increase and taking 5.15% pay cuts. But at the same time, there's enough in that same General Fund to lose due to the 49ers' stadium subsidy?

Twice, I asked the city to demand that the 49ers make our General Fund whole, but twice, there was no direct response.

The passage of Measure J does not make any of this a "dead" issue, and it should not stop anyone from speaking out. Our city loses big time with the 49ers stadium subsidy - and Santa Clara Plays Fair urges residents to read up, learn, and tell their neighbors what this will truly cost us as a city.



Thanks for all of your support,
Bill Bailey, Treasurer,
Santa Clara Plays Fair

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