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Plan to dissolve the Lambeau Field stadium area meets with resistance from Ashwaubenon board of directors

ASHWAUBENON – StateRep. David Steffen’s proposed plan to dismantle Green Bay, Brown County’s professional football stadium district was unwelcome by the Ashwaubenon Village Board on Tuesday.

The Howard Republican would end the board overseeing the Green Bay Packers’ lease at Lambeau Field and return about $ 81 million to property taxpayers for stadium maintenance by 2031.

Steffen said during a presentation of his proposal to the village council that responsibilities would be shifted to the city of Green Bay, but did not say, as he did when he presented the proposal on November 1st, that the city would likely have to borrow Money to meet the maintenance obligations included in the lease and the legislation that created the district.

Following the proposal, which Steffen said was just a draft, the money allocated to maintain Lambeau Field would be distributed in checks for $ 600 to Brown County’s property owners. He would also give $ 7 million to other government and private entities and $ 19 million to the City of Green Bay, which would also receive revenue from a 10% stadium ticket tax.

In Steffen’s interpretation, the stadium board outlived its legislative purpose, which included overseeing construction costs related to Lambeau Field, ensuring proper payment of the bonds and overseeing sales tax throughout the term.

Sales tax was abolished in 2015.

“I think they are misinterpreting the law,” said Steffen of the district that continues beyond this date. “You should put your mission completed banner up and be done.”

Steffen’s suggestion would give the maintenance allowance to property owners in Brown County, even though it was paid at half a cent in sales tax by all taxpayers. Returning money to property owners only would leave out everyone else who paid the tax.

“I haven’t heard anyone support these efforts,” said village trustee Steve Kubacki. “I think it would be premature to disband the stadium district at this particular point in time. I think this was a plan that was drawn up without the involvement of many other bodies.”

Steffen said he developed the design without consulting anyone.

Leaving Green Bay on the hook over unpaid maintenance costs would be unfair, said Patrick Webb, chief executive of the stadium district.

The Packers’ lease with the city and the stadium district stipulates that the team will be reimbursed for the operating and maintenance costs determined according to a formula. The reimbursement increases 2% per year, and for 2019, the last full year the stadium was fully used, the payment was $ 13.2 million. Ticket tax provides approximately $ 7.8 million per year. The city would be responsible for the compensation.

“In my opinion, you would tax the citizens of Green Bay to give refunds to Ashwaubenon, De Pere and Howard. I don’t know how you can resolve such a thing,” said Webb.

In any case, Webb believes that the law requires that if the stadium district were dissolved and Green Bay was given full responsibility for the lease, the sales tax money would have to go to the city.

The Packers, Stadium District and City are parties to the lease, and the question raised by stadium board analysis and others is whether the lease can be changed without the Packer’s consent. Removing one of the parties to the rental agreement can be considered a change.

David Steffen

Steffen claims that the lease can be changed by the legislator.

The Packers have made it clear that they want to continue running the stadium board.

“The stadium district continues to function well and the Packers and Ashwaubenon village support the current structure. The legislature has designed and chosen the structure of a non-political entity with a single purpose to oversee Lambeau Field, “the team said in a Nov. 1 statement. “Voters chose to support this specific structure through a binding referendum. The sales tax was levied specifically for the maintenance of Lambeau Field by the terms of the lease. It is tax and operationally responsible, the funding continues for the purpose, too.” from which it was collected.

“The district should not dissolve until it has fulfilled its obligations under the lease agreement, which runs until 2033. The work of the district is not yet complete.”

Keith Lucius, the representative of the village on the stadium board, is concerned about the money that Steffen wants to take from the circle.

“We live in a time when municipalities and government units have no or underfunded maintenance plans. Here we have a situation where we have a funded maintenance plan, so we take that funded maintenance plan and give it back to the taxpayers and have an unfunded “maintenance plan?” That’s what this proposal does. “

“If you give that money away, you have to get that money from somewhere, and now it’s going to be put through the budgeting process and everything else and weighted against everything else in the Green Bay budget, and you’re going to lose” all your control. “

Village Trustee Jay Krueger said the stadium district is the best way to preserve the quality of Lambeau Field, which he believes is one of the NFL’s best-manicured stadiums. He said if NFL cities don’t maintain their stadiums – he cited Oakland as an example – they lose their football teams.

“We don’t want to venture into the unknown. At certain times an apolitical body is better than a political body and this is starting to become a political football. It could be, and I don’t want to go there,” said Kruger. “This does not have my support in any form or in any form.”

Steffen created a website, stadiumdistrictfuture.com, to gauge public opinion about his plan. He said 60% of those polled support the proposal.

Contact Richard Ryman at (920) 431-8342 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.

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