Changes coming to Brewers renovations bill; Milwaukee would pay less

 

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A lead author of a $700 million proposal to maintain American Family Field through 2050 confirmed Thursday during a public hearing that a number of amendments are coming to the bill.

State Rep. Rob Brooks (R-Saukville) said one of those changes would be reducing the amount of money Milwaukee and Milwaukee County would contribute to the bill.

Under the bill Republicans introduced last month, taxpayers would provide $600 million. $400 million of that money would come from the state while Milwaukee and Milwaukee County would combine to provide $202.5 million. The Milwaukee Brewers would contribute $100 million.

Brooks told lawmakers on an Assembly committee the local share of funding would be reduced from a combined $7.5 million per year from the city and county to $5 million per year. That would lower the total city and county cost to $135 million.

The hearing at State Fair Park lasted longer than five hours. In the hallway, State Sen. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) said the amendments were largely made to ensure the support of Milwaukee Democrats, whose votes will be needed for the proposal to clear both the Assembly and Senate.

"That's really the key. It is that what's here locally, they've gotta be comfortable with what their return on investment is, the city and the county," Knodl said. "So, we're trying to create that environment."

Brooks said some of the other amendments coming to the bill including:

• A ticket tax on non-Brewers events
• An audit of the state-created Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, which technically owns and operates the stadium
• Ensuring Milwaukee is represented on the stadium board. Milwaukee County currently is, but it would lose its representation under the bill as it's currently written
• The creation of a workgroup to study the idea of developing some of the current parking lot space

The subject of parking lot development has been a key point of the negotiations from the city and county perspective. Local leaders believe by taking some of that land from state, they'd be creating a property and sales tax revenue stream that'd pay the city and county contributions toward stadium maintenance.

Brooks acknowledged not all of the current lot space is necessary. During the Brewers' Wild Card series this week, a CBS 58 crew documented how much of the lots went unused during a playoff contest.

FWIW these are the back halves of the Uecker and Yount lots after the first pitch of a playoff game. Far from fully occupied... pic.twitter.com/E6Fhathrp6

— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) October 3, 2023

"Is there space there that could be converted for development? Absolutely," Brooks told the committee. "The city's aware of that, the county's aware of that, the Brewers are aware of that, but they want the certainty of a long-term lease."

Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger said the team was especially reliant on ticket and parking revenue because it plays in the league's smallest television market. That means the team's local broadcasting rights fetch considerably less money than big market rivals like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. 

Still, Schlesinger told lawmakers the team is open to parking lot development once there's been an extensive study that includes ways to ensure traffic bottlenecks wouldn't get worse.

"When you reduce the number of spaces and create parking garages, which you definitely would need to do, you're going to exacerbate a problem that I'm facing with my fans, so I'm very sensitive to that," he said. "Can it be overcome? Yes. Can we figure something out? Yes, but that's something that's mindful to me."

State Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) said after the hearing she wanted to see the text of the amendments before commenting further on them, but she added the Brewers' tone on parking lot development was encouraging.

"This is the furthest they've come," Sinicki said. "At least, wanting to, being willing to at least have a discussion about it."

What repairs are needed? And why is there urgency?

Major League Baseball Chief Financial Officer Bob Starkey spoke at the hearing, and he encouraged lawmakers to act quickly. Brooks said the interest from other cities to draw a big league franchise, such as Las Vegas and Nashville, should spur state and local leaders to act.

"I would jump on it as soon as I could, once you figure out the funding piece," Starkey said. "Because you don't want to miss this opportunity, whether it be for other markets or other opportunities that may come around."

Schlesinger said the team accepted the findings in a report it commissioned from Venue Solutions Group in August 2022.

That report found the stadium would need more than $400 million worth of upgrades and repairs by 2040. Those needs include renovated concourses and bathrooms, along with maintenance on the outfield panels and retractable roof.

"We love the roof. It makes us a regional team," Schlesinger said. "It is incredible for playing, but it is not inexpensive."

While the team's lease in Milwaukee runs through 2030, Republicans' goal is to pass a bill this fall. The reason for that urgency is to create long-term funding certainty for both the team and stadium district, which would make it easier to plan projects for 2024 since the stadium district currently has about $70 million remaining from the original five-county sales tax, which was sunset in 2020.

While the initial timeline called for passage this month, both legislative leaders and team officials acknowledge it might take longer than that.

"I've made no plans for November," Schlesinger said. "I'm willing to work over Thanksgiving."