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Maybe it could have been a regional solution after all.
One criticism of the legislation to finance renovation of American Family Field was that lawmakers sought funding from Milwaukee’s city and county governments but not from any of the four suburban counties that also belong to the stadium district.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he wanted to follow the same pattern as the deal to build Fiserv Forum, in which taxpayer contributions came from the state, city and Milwaukee County, but not the suburban counties. However, the stadium legislation didn’t follow the pattern of the Fiserv Forum deal’s public-private funding split, in which the Milwaukee Bucks’ current and former owners paid half the projected cost, plus overruns.
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Consumers in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington and Racine counties all paid the deeply unpopular — and since retired – 0.1% sales tax used to fund the Brewers ballpark’s original construction.
Now Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow tells Milwaukee Magazine he would have kept an open mind on a renovation contribution if he had been asked, because of the team’s importance to the regional economy.
“We would have looked at it” in the context of the entire package, Farrow says. “I don’t rule anything out of hand.”
Farrow says he recognizes that people have “some philosophical differences on when government should come in and support (private) entities.”
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However, he adds, “I know people like to talk about the millionaire owners and the ones on the field. It’s the other individuals that work in the stadium and in the concessions that we need to keep in mind as well.”
Farrow discussed his position at an August event sponsored by the Milwaukee Business Journal, when he said his late mother would have wanted him to support funding the renovation. Former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow voted for taxpayer financing to build the ballpark when she was in the state Senate.
However, the county exec apparently didn’t mention the possibility of Waukesha County funding at that event.
Farrow isn’t saying that he ultimately would have supported a Waukesha County contribution or that a majority of his county’s board would have agreed with him.
But nobody ever had a chance to find out. Farrow says his Republican former colleagues in the Legislature never asked him about contributing to the deal.
As it happens, the city and Milwaukee County aren’t really contributing either, because the legislation reduces state sales tax administration fees enough to wipe out their shares. That arrangement doesn’t do anything for Waukesha County, which doesn’t have a local sales tax.
Unlike the suburban counties, the legislation will allow the city and Milwaukee County to keep their seats on the 13-member stadium district board, although Milwaukee County will drop from two representatives to one. Keeping local representation was a last-minute concession by Republicans to win over Democratic votes in the Senate.
The team, which is both the stadium’s minority owner and the district’s tenant, will gain a seat on the board for the first time. Otherwise, board members will be appointed by the governor, currently a Democrat, and the top leader in each legislative chamber, currently both Republicans.
Each of the four suburban counties has one seat on the outgoing board. Farrow and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann say they’re not concerned about losing representation because they trust state officials to appoint good people to the board. Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave declined comment, and Ozaukee County Board Chair Lee Schlenvogt was not available.
Gov. Tony Evers is expected to sign the legislation soon.
