Five Milwaukee aldermen issued a statement today saying they oppose the use of any city funds for future repairs to American Family Field.
“We believe firmly that not a dime of the funding should be footed by city of Milwaukee taxpayers,” said Ald. Jonathan Brostoff, Ald. Lamont Westmoreland, Ald. Larresa Taylor, Ald. Mark Borkowski and Ald. Russell Stamper, in the statement.
Earlier this year, Gov. Tony Evers proposed using $290 million of the state’s budget surplus for future repairs needed at American Family Field. The money, along with existing funds at the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District and a contribution from the Milwaukee Brewers, would be used by the district to meet its stadium maintenance obligations under its lease with the Brewers. Under that proposal, the Brewers agreed to sign a non-relocation agreement and commit to another 20 years at American Family Field, keeping the team in Milwaukee through the end of 2043. The current lease would allow the team to leave as soon as 2030.
Studies done by the Venue Solutions Group for the Brewers and by CAA Icon for the state point to around $448 million in projects to be done over the next 20 years to keep American Family Field up-to-date with Major League Baseball standards.
But Republicans in the legislature opposed the Evers stadium plan, saying they wanted a longer commitment from the Brewers to stay in Milwaukee and didn’t want to rely on a one-time budget surplus to fund the improvements needed for the next 20 years. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said it is important that some of the public funds for stadium upgrades come from the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, similar to how public funds for Fiserv Forum were divided between the state and local governments.
But both the city and county have been facing severe budget challenges and local officials have said they don’t have funds to help pay for stadium improvements. The city recently approved a 2% sales tax hike to avoid a fiscal cliff and the county is considering a 0.4% sales tax increase to address its budget shortfall.
In May the Milwaukee County Board voted unanimously in opposition to the use of county funds for renovations to American Family Field.
Now one-third of Milwaukee Common Council members are making it clear they oppose city funds for stadium upgrades.
“We want to change the expectations’ trajectory for the funding in a fundamental way,” Brostoff, Westmoreland, Taylor, Borkowski and Stamper said in their statement. “The Brewers and the stadium district need to identify a funding model that uses a mix of private funding – including some from team ownership – as well as borrowing and other sources to take care of the repairs. The Brewers are a tremendous asset and have put together a winning team by making very wise and strategic decisions with personnel and with payroll. We see no reason why they cannot do the same when it comes to addressing the repairs at Am Fam Field.
