Sources: Brewers stadium bill coming next week. Here's how the $700 million cost is divided.

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- According to multiple sources within state and local government, a $700 million bill funding renovations and maintenance at American Family Field will be released early next week. Most of that cost would be absorbed by the public, but the state's top Senate Republican confirmed the Brewers will contribute, too.

In an interview earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said he expected an amended Republican-led ballpark renovations package would be made public early next week.

"We've had meetings with Republicans and Democrats," LeMahieu said. "Hopefully, we can get them on board."

When asked if the bill included funding from the team, LeMahieu said yes.

"There is an investment from the Brewers in the bill," he said.

Neither LeMahieu nor the team would discuss specific numbers within the bill. However, sources who'd been made aware of those details shared a breakdown of how that approximately $700 million cost would be covered by state and local governments, as well as the ballclub.

Those sources either shared or confirmed the financial details on the condition they were not identified in this story.

The team's current lease runs through 2030, but the Brewers have the option of extending it through 2040. This bill would provide funding aimed at upgrading and maintaining the stadium through 2050.

Most of the cost, about $400 million, would be picked up by the state, which owns and operates American Family Field via the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District. 

Milwaukee County would pay $5 million per year for 27 years, adding up to $135 million. The City of Milwaukee would contribute $2.5 million per year over than same span, totaling $67.5 million. It amounts to a total local contribution of $202.5 million.

The Brewers would pay between $100 and $125 million. One unsettled issue surrounded ancillary development around the ballpark, and whether there would be property tax exemptions for it.

"The Brewers are continuing to work with both sides of the aisle to find a creative solution to ensure that the Stadium District can meet its obligations," Rick Schlesinger, the team's president of business operations, said in a statement. "And sign a generational lease extension at American Family Field."

Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Steve F. Taylor, whose district primarily includes Franklin and Oak Creek, said he remained opposed to giving any more county money toward the stadium.

"It should be owners, and it should be the state," Taylor said in an interview Friday. "If we're forced to put it toward AmFam Field, that money will not go to our parks, our seniors, our crumbling roads, our crumbling bridges."

At the same time, a collection of business leaders have formed the 'Home Crew Coalition,' and they are advocating for government officials to find common ground that would pave the way for a new lease.

Omar Shaikh, the owner of Carnevor steakhouse and co-owner of the 3rd Street Market Hall, is the coalition's chairman. In an interview Friday, he said the team leaving would be even more costly.

"What if we lose them, right? We're trying to be a Tier 1 city; we can't lose a Major League Baseball team," Shaikh said. "And then what happens to the facility if the Brewers go? Not saying that's gonna happen, but I think they're a fabric of our community."

In May, the county board unanimously rejected the idea of providing any more financial support for the ballpark in a nonbinding resolution.

That same week, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters state and local government had an obligation to maintain the stadium for the duration of the lease.

The problem is the district doesn't have enough money left to cover the estimated cost of maintenance and renovations through 2030, let alone 2040.

How we got here

Under the current lease, the stadium district is responsible for upkeep. A report commissioned by the Brewers estimated the park would need $428 million in repairs through 2040.

A second study, commissioned by the Wisconsin Department of Administration, which operates under Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, estimated the costs through 2040 could run anywhere between $567 million and $667 million.

Evers proposed giving the stadium district nearly $300 million in state funding as part of the upcoming two-year state budget. He reasoned that money would accrue interest over time while covering repairs through 2043. 

Republican lawmakers, who control the legislature, stripped that money out of the budget. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has said the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County need to provide stadium funding, too. 

The stadium, long known as Miller Park, was built and maintained through a 1995 law creating a new baseball stadium district and funding it with a new five-county, 0.1% sales tax in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington and Waukesha counties.

That bill passed the state Senate by a single vote, which led to the recall of a Racine County legislator. 

Sources who laid out the details of this pending bill said it was still subject to change. LeMahieu said it'd be productive to begin having hearings on the proposal.

"At this point, it's good to get a bill out there," he said. "Whether or not that's the final product."

The stadium district board is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon.