E.V. pays, W. Valley plays
By Paul Giblin, Tribune
The state Tourism and Sports Authority is serving as a huge vacuum cleaner, sucking up millions in tax dollars from the East Valley and moving them to the West Valley.
Since the taxpayer-funded agency was created in 2000, it has committed more than $293 million to build and refurbish sports venues across the metro area.
To date though, the authority has awarded nearly all of those funds — an overwhelming 98.46 percent — to projects in the West Valley. The scope of work ranges from a new football stadium for the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale to amateur sports fields adjacent to the stadium.
In contrast, the authority has committed 1.52 percent to Phoenix projects and 0.02 percent for a single project in the East Valley.
The lone project to land in the East Valley is a $60,000 grant to Arizona State University researchers to compile a database of the Valley’s total stock of amateur and youth sports facilities.
“I don’t see a long list of projects in the East Valley, yet,” said Mesa Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh.
The authority’s nine board members have not funded a single square foot of turf for any purpose east of Phoenix.
The funding imbalance is even more significant because a large portion of the authority’s funding is derived through special taxes on hotel rooms and rental cars in Maricopa County.
The state does not track the amounts of the authority’s, funding from each city’s resorts, hotels and car-rental agencies, said Dan Zemke, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Revenue.
However, he said, it’s reasonable to believe that a disproportionate share comes from the East Valley, since the region’s tourism industry is based in Scottsdale, he said.
A review of the Valley Hotel and Resort Association’s membership puts the matter in some perspective. The 2002-03 directory shows a majority of the association’s members, 61.5 percent, are in Scottsdale and other East Valley cities.
In comparison, 36.9 percent are in Phoenix and a scant 1.6 percent are in West Valley cities.
“It’s disappointing that we don’t have any approved projects yet in the East Valley, since the bulk of the money paying for the TSA continues to come from hotel room nights and car rentals in the East Valley,” Kavanaugh said.
“We’re providing money for the operations, and there is a lot of need for youth sports facilities here in the East Valley,” he said.
The authority also derives funding from other sources, including taxes on tickets and concession sales at Cardinals games and income taxes from Cardinals players.
Agency chairman Jim Grogan readily acknowledged that its projects have been distributed unevenly across the Valley. “Yeah, that’s true,” he said.
The agency twice awarded and withdrew its largest project, the Cardinals stadium, to East Valley cities before settling on a West Valley city. In time, he said, funding will be earmarked for other smaller projects in the East Valley, which should restore some balance.
The reasons for the inequity are varied and largely tied to the agency’s rocky early years trying to find a community able, willing and suitable to host the Cardinals stadium. The voter-approved authority is charged with four primary missions:
-- Build and market a stadium for the Cardinals, the Fiesta Bowl and other special events, including the Super Bowl and conventions.
-- Provide funding for Cactus League baseball stadium development and renovations.
-- Provide money to develop and upgrade amateur and youth sports facilities.
-- Dispense money for tourism promotion for the Valley.
During the public campaign for Proposition 302, which OK’d the funding mechanism for the authority, officials promised a wide-open selection process to determine where the Cardinals stadium should be built. However, it was widely considered that the East Valley was the colossal favorite to get the stadium.
Both the Cardinals and the Fiesta Bowl had played in ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe and had good relationships with the city. Plus, the stadium was being pitched as a “multipurpose facility” capable of attracting conventions, which would depend on the East Valley’s stock of hotels and resorts.
Five cities and Indian communities across the Valley submitted bids. As expected, the authority’s board members selected a Tempe site on Feb. 13, 2001.
The Federal Aviation Administration later determined that the site under the flight corridor of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport created a hazard to flight safety.
The Tourism and Sports Authority abandoned the Tempe site, conducted a second round of bids between cities and Indian communities, and awarded the retractable-roof stadium to Mesa on April 30, 2002.
A month later, Mesa residents turned in more than 17,000 signatures on two separate petition drives to force a referendum on the issue.
Then, facing a legislative sunset provision that would have disbanded the authority altogether if it could not reach a deal for the stadium, the agency abandoned the Mesa site, conducted a third round of bids and awarded the stadium to Glendale on Aug. 29, 2002.
The authority has committed $252 million to the project. Glendale, the Cardinals and the Fiesta Bowl will provide the rest of the money to build the $355.3 million facility at Loop 101 and Bethany Home Road. It is scheduled to open for the 2006 football season.
During the months of uncertainty about the football stadium, the West Valley town of Surprise rather quietly wrapped up funding for what originally was thought would be the West Valley’s consolation prize, Surprise Stadium.
The baseball facility attracted two new teams to the Cactus League, the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals, which played spring training games in Arizona for the first time this year.
The agency also contributed $4.3 million for on-going renovations at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, where the Oakland A’s play, and currently is in negotiations with Scottsdale and Tempe to improve the stadiums and practice facilities for the San Francisco Giants and Anaheim Angels, respectively.
Agency officials expect to reach agreements with Scottsdale and Tempe officials this year, though the scope of work and dollar amounts have yet to be determined, said spokesman Brad Parker. Theoretically, work could begin as soon as next year.
The authority based its initial selection of youth and amateur sports facilities on need, Parker said. The authority accepted 21 applicants, including a selection from the East Valley cities and organizations, but the East Valley applications simply did not make the cut, he said.
The authority currently is accepting applications for a second round of funding and is attracting interest from across the Valley, including all the applicants that did not receive funding in the first round, said Steve Patterson, a consultant heading the effort.
Among the East Valley requests are the proposed aquatics center in downtown Mesa, lights for school fields in Tempe and new baseball fields in Queen Creek.
The agency plans to award $1.37 million in grants before the end of the year, he said. The deadline to submit applications is Sept. 19. The application is available online at http://www.az-tsa.com/youth/index.htm.
Brent DeRaad, vice president of marketing and administration for the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, noted that while the East Valley has not received money for sports facilities, the tourism promotion money has come through as promised.
“It's our industry that gets taxed, so for some money to come back to tourism was important to us," he said. "It allows our industry to get out more aggressively and promote the Valley as a whole."
An agreement through the 2006 Fiesta Bowl game guarantees the teams will stay and practice in Scottsdale and fans will be directed to East Valley and Scottsdale resorts, DeRaad said. "We're trying to keep as much of the economic impact in Scottsdale as we can," he said.
Overall, the Tourism and Sports Authority is meeting its objectives, Grogan said.
“For those who said this was only about helping the Cardinals, let them come to Surprise, let them come to Avondale, let them come to the Phoenix South Mountain Y,” he said.
http://www.aztrib.com/index.php?sty=8207
By Paul Giblin, Tribune
The state Tourism and Sports Authority is serving as a huge vacuum cleaner, sucking up millions in tax dollars from the East Valley and moving them to the West Valley.
Since the taxpayer-funded agency was created in 2000, it has committed more than $293 million to build and refurbish sports venues across the metro area.
To date though, the authority has awarded nearly all of those funds — an overwhelming 98.46 percent — to projects in the West Valley. The scope of work ranges from a new football stadium for the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale to amateur sports fields adjacent to the stadium.
In contrast, the authority has committed 1.52 percent to Phoenix projects and 0.02 percent for a single project in the East Valley.
The lone project to land in the East Valley is a $60,000 grant to Arizona State University researchers to compile a database of the Valley’s total stock of amateur and youth sports facilities.
“I don’t see a long list of projects in the East Valley, yet,” said Mesa Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh.
The authority’s nine board members have not funded a single square foot of turf for any purpose east of Phoenix.
The funding imbalance is even more significant because a large portion of the authority’s funding is derived through special taxes on hotel rooms and rental cars in Maricopa County.
The state does not track the amounts of the authority’s, funding from each city’s resorts, hotels and car-rental agencies, said Dan Zemke, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Revenue.
However, he said, it’s reasonable to believe that a disproportionate share comes from the East Valley, since the region’s tourism industry is based in Scottsdale, he said.
A review of the Valley Hotel and Resort Association’s membership puts the matter in some perspective. The 2002-03 directory shows a majority of the association’s members, 61.5 percent, are in Scottsdale and other East Valley cities.
In comparison, 36.9 percent are in Phoenix and a scant 1.6 percent are in West Valley cities.
“It’s disappointing that we don’t have any approved projects yet in the East Valley, since the bulk of the money paying for the TSA continues to come from hotel room nights and car rentals in the East Valley,” Kavanaugh said.
“We’re providing money for the operations, and there is a lot of need for youth sports facilities here in the East Valley,” he said.
The authority also derives funding from other sources, including taxes on tickets and concession sales at Cardinals games and income taxes from Cardinals players.
Agency chairman Jim Grogan readily acknowledged that its projects have been distributed unevenly across the Valley. “Yeah, that’s true,” he said.
The agency twice awarded and withdrew its largest project, the Cardinals stadium, to East Valley cities before settling on a West Valley city. In time, he said, funding will be earmarked for other smaller projects in the East Valley, which should restore some balance.
The reasons for the inequity are varied and largely tied to the agency’s rocky early years trying to find a community able, willing and suitable to host the Cardinals stadium. The voter-approved authority is charged with four primary missions:
-- Build and market a stadium for the Cardinals, the Fiesta Bowl and other special events, including the Super Bowl and conventions.
-- Provide funding for Cactus League baseball stadium development and renovations.
-- Provide money to develop and upgrade amateur and youth sports facilities.
-- Dispense money for tourism promotion for the Valley.
During the public campaign for Proposition 302, which OK’d the funding mechanism for the authority, officials promised a wide-open selection process to determine where the Cardinals stadium should be built. However, it was widely considered that the East Valley was the colossal favorite to get the stadium.
Both the Cardinals and the Fiesta Bowl had played in ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe and had good relationships with the city. Plus, the stadium was being pitched as a “multipurpose facility” capable of attracting conventions, which would depend on the East Valley’s stock of hotels and resorts.
Five cities and Indian communities across the Valley submitted bids. As expected, the authority’s board members selected a Tempe site on Feb. 13, 2001.
The Federal Aviation Administration later determined that the site under the flight corridor of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport created a hazard to flight safety.
The Tourism and Sports Authority abandoned the Tempe site, conducted a second round of bids between cities and Indian communities, and awarded the retractable-roof stadium to Mesa on April 30, 2002.
A month later, Mesa residents turned in more than 17,000 signatures on two separate petition drives to force a referendum on the issue.
Then, facing a legislative sunset provision that would have disbanded the authority altogether if it could not reach a deal for the stadium, the agency abandoned the Mesa site, conducted a third round of bids and awarded the stadium to Glendale on Aug. 29, 2002.
The authority has committed $252 million to the project. Glendale, the Cardinals and the Fiesta Bowl will provide the rest of the money to build the $355.3 million facility at Loop 101 and Bethany Home Road. It is scheduled to open for the 2006 football season.
During the months of uncertainty about the football stadium, the West Valley town of Surprise rather quietly wrapped up funding for what originally was thought would be the West Valley’s consolation prize, Surprise Stadium.
The baseball facility attracted two new teams to the Cactus League, the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals, which played spring training games in Arizona for the first time this year.
The agency also contributed $4.3 million for on-going renovations at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, where the Oakland A’s play, and currently is in negotiations with Scottsdale and Tempe to improve the stadiums and practice facilities for the San Francisco Giants and Anaheim Angels, respectively.
Agency officials expect to reach agreements with Scottsdale and Tempe officials this year, though the scope of work and dollar amounts have yet to be determined, said spokesman Brad Parker. Theoretically, work could begin as soon as next year.
The authority based its initial selection of youth and amateur sports facilities on need, Parker said. The authority accepted 21 applicants, including a selection from the East Valley cities and organizations, but the East Valley applications simply did not make the cut, he said.
The authority currently is accepting applications for a second round of funding and is attracting interest from across the Valley, including all the applicants that did not receive funding in the first round, said Steve Patterson, a consultant heading the effort.
Among the East Valley requests are the proposed aquatics center in downtown Mesa, lights for school fields in Tempe and new baseball fields in Queen Creek.
The agency plans to award $1.37 million in grants before the end of the year, he said. The deadline to submit applications is Sept. 19. The application is available online at http://www.az-tsa.com/youth/index.htm.
Brent DeRaad, vice president of marketing and administration for the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, noted that while the East Valley has not received money for sports facilities, the tourism promotion money has come through as promised.
“It's our industry that gets taxed, so for some money to come back to tourism was important to us," he said. "It allows our industry to get out more aggressively and promote the Valley as a whole."
An agreement through the 2006 Fiesta Bowl game guarantees the teams will stay and practice in Scottsdale and fans will be directed to East Valley and Scottsdale resorts, DeRaad said. "We're trying to keep as much of the economic impact in Scottsdale as we can," he said.
Overall, the Tourism and Sports Authority is meeting its objectives, Grogan said.
“For those who said this was only about helping the Cardinals, let them come to Surprise, let them come to Avondale, let them come to the Phoenix South Mountain Y,” he said.
http://www.aztrib.com/index.php?sty=8207
