A plan unveiled Monday would spend about $600 million in state and local cash on American Family Field renovations over nearly 30 years, with the Milwaukee Brewers pledging $100 million.
That would require approval from the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, as well as their counterparts in Milwaukee County and the city of Milwaukee — where several elected officials oppose local stadium spending. This increases the possibility of further negotiations before a final agreement is reached.
At stake is whether the Brewers will stay in Milwaukee after the team’s lease on the publicly owned stadium expires at the end of 2030, said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester.
The legislation is “an opportunity for us to keep Major League Baseball in Wisconsin,” Vos said at a news conference at the ballpark.
If the team leaves, he said, the public would own an empty stadium — and state income tax revenue tied to the ball club would disappear, the rep said. Robert Brooks, R-Saukville, who co-authored the legislation.
“It’s cheaper to keep them,” Brooks said at the news conference.
Governor Evers promises to review the proposal
Evers’ office issued a statement criticizing Republicans for rejecting his stadium financing plan, while also saying “it’s good to hear that Republicans are getting serious about keeping Major League Baseball in Wisconsin.”
“Governor Evers looks forward to reviewing the Republican proposal and continuing conversations on a plan that provides additional flexibility and minimizes harm to local partners while ensuring we retain this important economic driver and thousands of jobs in our state,” is it called.
The proposal, unveiled by Vos and other Republican lawmakers, calls for the ball club to extend its lease through the end of 2050 — with the company also signing a non-relocation agreement.
Under the lease, the stadium’s major capital improvements, including renovations that bring it up to par with upgraded facilities used within at least 75% of all MLB stadiums, are largely the responsibility of the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District. The state-created district is the primary owner of American Family Field, which opened in 2001.
The upgrades under the Republican proposal include winterizing the ballpark so it can be used for concerts and other events in the off-season, Brooks said.
The team generates about $20 million in annual government revenue and sales tax revenue, totaling more than $500 million from 2024 to 2050.
In February, in his 2023-’25 state budget, Evers proposed a $290 million payment to help fund stadium renovations totaling nearly $450 million. It would have been combined with public funds already allocated by the stadium district as well as interest income.
In return, the Brewers lease would have been extended to 2043.
Evers’ plan ran into GOP opposition
Evers’ proposal ran into legislative opposition, with Vos and other Republicans saying the plan should include money from Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle also said the brewers should help pay for the renovations.
The Republican plan calls for the state to spend about $411 million through 2046. After an initial payment of $60.8 million to the stadium district, those annual payments would be capped at $20 million under the legislation.
An additional $50 million would be available through short-term loans from the state to the stadium district through 2045.
More:How does the Brewers’ public funding deal compare to other professional sports teams?
Most of the state’s money would come from income taxes on Brewers’ employees, including players, and on visiting team players. Those payments would go directly to the stadium district, said Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, a bill co-author.
Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee would pay a combined $7.5 million annually, for a total of about $200 million. The proposal calls for $5 million in annual county payments and $2.5 million in city payments.
“They benefit the most from having professional baseball in their community,” Feyen said. Meanwhile, state sales revenue generated by the Brewers benefits all Wisconsin communities, he said.
The Brewers, primarily owned by multimillionaire investor Mark Attanasio, would spend $100 million.
The $100 million compared to about $40 million the Brewers would be required to make in stadium lease and renovation financing payments through 2050 if the current lease were extended without changes, said Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers’ president of business operations.
Brewer’s decision to spend the extra money was the result of facing political realities as well as a desire to be a good partner with the community, Schlesinger said.
The spending plan is for the stadium district to meet its contract obligations and is not a bailout, he said.
There is an urgency to pass the proposal, said Vos, who plans an October vote in the Assembly.
He and Brooks said the stadium district’s renovation fund, previously estimated at $70 million, actually amounts to about $10 million to $15 million. That could cause the stadium district to default on its lease obligations as early as 2024, Brooks said.
This fund was generated by a 0.5% sales tax in the five-county Milwaukee area that ended in 2020.
The state has $4 billion in surplus. Milwaukee faces budget challenge
Opponents of local spending say the state has a two-year budget of $99 billion, including a $4 billion surplus.
The county and city have 2023 budgets of $1.37 billion and $1.72 billion, respectively. They also face greater fiscal challenges, even though they generate too much of the state’s income and sales tax revenue and as a number of foreign companies relocate their operations to Milwaukee.
Also, American Family Field and its parking lots, which could eventually host commercial development, are exempt from property taxes — the main form of local government revenue.
But the county and city each have a sales tax that applies to Brewers tickets and other items sold at the ballpark.
“If the team leaves, they have the most to lose,” Vos said. “I think it’s a good deal for everybody.”
The city’s new sales tax and the county’s sales tax increase were each approved in July by local officials. These actions were allowed under state law, which also provides increased shared state revenue for the city and county.
The Republican proposal would tax city residents twice because they are also county residents, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. He said the breweries should be pushed to create commercial developments next to the ballpark — which would generate property tax revenue if the site’s exemption is changed.
Johnson’s bottom line: he wants the Brewers to stay in Milwaukee. But American Family Field is owned by a state-created district, not the city.
“So I would prefer that the number contributed by the city was zero, but understand that’s probably unlikely given the supremacy of state law or superiority over local laws,” he said.
County Executive David Crowley called the ball club an important community asset and said he wants a financing plan for a two-part stadium.
“However, it is important to recognize that Milwaukee County still faces a significant fiscal deficit over the next several years,” Crowley’s statement said. “Any new proposal from the state of Wisconsin must recognize this reality.”
The opposition includes local officials and state legislators
But while Johnson and Crowley support it, the plan will be opposed by several members of the Common Council and County Board.
The county board voted unanimously in May for a resolution to oppose county funding for the stadium. And five members of the 15-member Common Council issued a statement in July opposing the city’s funding of the project.
However, the legislation also allows for possible cuts in state shared revenue to the county and city to help fund stadium renovations, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
The legislation also could have trouble gaining approval in the state Senate, where it could lose just five of 22 Republican votes — assuming all 11 Senate Democrats oppose it, said Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee.
“There is a core of very fiscally conservative senators who I don’t see supporting a state bailout,” said Carpenter, who opposes local stadium funding.
Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, also characterized the plan as too burdensome for Milwaukee taxpayers, saying “the Republican plan presented today falls short.”
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, indicated the proposal could still see changes.
“There is still work to be done, but the framework of the proposal introduced today will hopefully garner the bipartisan support needed to keep the Brewers in Milwaukee through 2050,” LeMahieu said in a statement.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, indicated her caucus would not support the bill.
Neubauer said the Republican proposal “fails to recognize the regional benefit of American Family Field and places too great a financial burden on the city and county of Milwaukee.”
“We remain willing to continue the talks and are hopeful that a bipartisan agreement can be reached,” she said.
Said Brooks: “We know we’re going to have to bring the Democrats into this deal.”
American Family Field by 2022 supported 3,000 full- and part-time jobs, including Brewers employees and people working for concession operators and other ballpark suppliers. In addition, the ballpark draws an average of about 1 million more fans annually compared to the team’s former home, County Stadium.
But skeptics say there are numerous studies that say these benefits are exaggerated — with most of them going to team owners, managers and players. Economists point out that money spent on a ballpark is discretionary income that is likely to shift to other activities if that stadium closes.
Attanasio has repeatedly said he wants the Brewers to stay in Milwaukee long-term.
While MLB team moves are rare, the Oakland Athletics reached an agreement in May to move from the publicly owned Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to Las Vegas — where a $1.5 billion stadium would be built with $380 million in public funds. MLB owners must vote in November whether to approve the move.
Both Brooks and Vos thanked the Brewers for the baseball club’s willingness to stay in Wisconsin.
“Baseball is a very, very competitive industry,” Brooks said. “We’re just grateful they’re staying here.”
Reporters Molly Beck, Alison Dirr, Jessie Opoien and Vanessa Swales contributed to this article.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
